The Dashing and the Debonair
by Once-Upon-A-Fairy's-Tale
Summary: Loki awakens after a dream of Iron Man. Imprisoned and resentful, he successfully devises a plan to defeat anything, and anyone, standing in his way. Loki ends up in the realm of the Avengers, eventually finding aid in Tony, whose hidden dark nature is slowly driving him away from his teammates. Eventual Loki/Dark Tony! Rated M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

This is our first fanfic. It was just an idea we had with Loki/future Dark Tony. Please review? :D Let us know what we're doing right/wrong.

Disclaimer: We don't own the Avengers. All rights belong to Marvel. Only the story is ours. Uh... is that it? :)

_Warning: This story is rated M for future violence, language, etc. but not that much for smut. It'll have sex, it just won't be too... you know.  
_

* * *

**CHAPTER 1**

There he was.

Standing not three yards from Loki.

The man who he'd had countless battles with. Fully suited for combat, his red and gold armor glittered lightly against the bright New York sun.

Tony Stark.

Mechanical arms rose, pointing the almost charged energy blast in Loki's direction. Loki was prepared. Loki was ready to counter attack.  
This time he _was_ ready. He was sure of it.

This time Iron Man would die. He wouldn't ever get away again.

This time…

Stark fired his blasters and Loki moved to counter the attack, but hesitated a fraction of a second, long enough to keep him in the path of the energy blasts. He threw his hands up as a poor defense against the mortal's weapon.

The blasts struck him in the face, and he sat up in bed with a start. He felt a burning sensation in his eyes.

The blasts had blinded Loki, and he squeezed his eyes shut, swearing he would get Iron Man next time. He reopened his eyes once more, the fog in his mind slowly giving way to consciousness.

It had been the sun in his eyes. It was morning.

He sighed, heaving his body away from the sun rays streaming in from the window.

It had only been a dream. He looked around disoriented for a couple seconds before lying back down and staring straight up at the ceiling. Just a dream. Another dream with Stark. Loki had been having a lot of those lately, and frankly he had no idea why. He hated Stark as much as he hated the other Avengers, but there was something different about him, something that made him more interesting.

Loki sighed, rolled over, and sat up at the edge of his bed, scanning his room.

His room... No. His _cell_ was filled with expensive artwork, chairs, food and other pointless possessions he'd obtained over his years in Asgard. He cared for none of this. His eyes wandered to the door he couldn't open. He wanted only freedom from this palace he had one called home.

Loki hated being in captivity. Those insufferable Avengers had been the cause of this. He gritted his teeth, nails digging into soft material under him. If that green ogre hadn't tossed him around like a ragdoll, he wouldn't have been locked up in this room. He lay back down on his bed, continuing his enlightening study of the ceiling. He gripped the sheets again, remembering the day his awful fate had been chosen.

* * *

-One week ago-

The Avengers held a meeting on how they should handle Loki.

The aforementioned sat in a glass cell meant to hold Dr. Bruce "The Hulk" Banner during his rampages. They may have captured him, but humans were dull-witted fools if they honestly believed a mere human cage would hold the God of Mischief. Loki sneered, wishing he could hear the conversation that was currently deciding his future.

Director Fury, Agent Coulson, and every Avenger with the exception of Dr. Banner and Tony Stark were seated at a table in one of SHIELD's many private rooms. Dr. Banner was on another floor tinkering away in his lab. The topic of Loki put a lot of stress on him, and no soul wanted to risk having the jolly green giant come out to play during the meeting.

Stark on the other hand, was, as always, just running late.

Agent Coulson sat next to Fury. On the other side of the table Thor sat directly across from the director. Tony's unoccupied seat perched to the left of Thor. Agent Natasha "Black Widow" Romanoff sat to Thor's right with Agent Clint "Hawkeye" Barton at her side. Steve "Captain America" Rogers sat at the end of the table.

After twelve minutes of polite greetings and a failed attempt at small talk, Tony Stark finally waltzed in. He chose not to explain his tardiness, and they chose not to ask. It was a Stark custom.

"Now that Stark has graciously blessed us with his presence, let's get this show on the road." Fury commanded. Each hummed or nodded their head an agreement, all unwilling to speak first.

Director Fury and Thor measured each other up from across the table, neither wanting to lose the upper hand in the argument that was undoubtedly soon to transpire.

"So what of Loki?" Steve spoke first, wishing the meeting to end as soon as possible. Steve didn't want to vex Thor, but an irritated Fury was much less desirable. Being in the presence of the already testy director made him uncomfortable.

Thor glanced at the captain before warily turning his gaze back to Fury. "Loki must return to Asgard to receive his punishment. It will be a burden for Midgard to attempt to detain a man as powerful as Loki. He has escaped from your attempts, and he will do so again. Midgard is not prepared."

Fury narrowed his eyes, but Thor interrupted before he could retort. "I do not mean to insult your people. I mean only to protect you. Loki's powers cannot be fully suppressed on a realm as young and inexperienced with magic as Midgard. My brother is a sorcerer of the highest caliber. He can manipulate magic as he sees fit." Thor paused, scanning the calculating faces of his teammates. He hesitated to say the next bit knowing it would be of little help to his case. "In Asgard Loki has been able to break even the strongest enchantments cast on him. Midgard's technology will simply not be able to properly detain him." Nonetheless, it needed to be said. Midgard truly did not have the necessary means.

"Exactly. What makes you think Loki won't escape from Asgard?" Clint piped up. He detested the idea of Loki escaping. "Why can't we just kill him and get it over with?"

Thor shot him a murderous glare at the same moment Natasha chose to jab him with her elbow. _Oh, right. They were brothers._

Choosing to ignore Barton's last question, Thor continued. "Although I am not certain this will keep him for long, it will work better than any Midgardian cell. In the meantime we will work to remedy the problem."

Thor was met with curious yet dumbfounded gazes. Coulson motioned for him to continue before Director Fury lost his patience.

"Long before our birth, Mother created a special room for herself. Like Loki, Mother's specialty was magic, but as Queen of Asgard she needed to be skilled in hand-to-hand combat as well. She locked herself in this room with a dangerous criminal, determined to defeat him without the use of magic. If magic is attempted its effects will be reflected and the user will become its target."

Tony sat quietly, his brain quickly processing this new intriguing information. His eyes flickered to Fury wondering how the director was taking this.

Fury, deep in thought, shook his head and raised an eyebrow in either skepticism or surprise._ Well, seeing as he only had one eyebrow to raise it really could have been either,_ Tony mused.

"And this room will be enough to hold Loki?" Fury was unsure.

"There is only one entrance and likewise only one exit. A guardian is to be at the door at all times."

"But if Loki is to step out of this room his powers will return?" Fury was quick to ask.

"Yes," Thor answered with a droll stare, "But Loki will not be able to step out of this room. There is a magical barrier around the room. With his magic denied to him, he can neither break the barrier nor cause any harm to Tyr."

Clint wrinkled his eyebrows in confusion. "What's a tier?"

"Tyr," Thor corrected. "The God of Justice and Law, and the eldest son of Odin. Tyr has been defeated in battle by me, only." Thor smirked, recalling the many spars he had both won and lost against his older brother.

Having been oddly unresponsive the whole time, Tony finally spoke. "You have more brothers?"

Thor turned towards Tony bemusedly. It was abnormal for the Man of Iron to keep silent for so long. He thought it strange that he would ask a question as trivial as this.

"Tyr and Loki are my only brothers. Tyr was Odin's firstborn, and my half-brother. His job was not to fall heir to the throne, but to protect the skies. He is a glorious hero, but he does not always follow his heart. Being the God of Justice and Law, he ensures all actions are done according to the Allfather's rules for the good of Asgard."

Clint, the ever observant one, added, "So he's like a cop?" He was blatantly ignored and huffed his disapproval.

"Can I trust that Tyr will not allow Loki to escape?" Fury inquired.

Steve wondered aloud, "Director Fury might be right. He is, after all, Loki's brother too. How do we know he won't let him out?"

"No." Thor sighed. "Tyr does not share the same bond that I once did with Loki. Tyr was always disapproving of mischief, and Loki was always causing it. They have shown great disdain for each other since childhood. Tyr would never willingly aid his escape."

Fury shook his head once again. "I don't trust Loki. I want him to be somewhere I can keep an eye on him."

Tony snickered. An eye was all he had.

Natasha spoke quietly, having no intention of angering Fury. "Director, none of us trust Loki, but Thor is right. If he has escaped from here before he can escape again. Hand him over to Asgard."

"Once we have a proper method of containment for him we can punish him here." Clint still wished personal revenge on Loki.

Before anybody could get another word in, Tony interrupted. "I agree with Thunderbrains. We should hand Loki over to Asgard. Thor's head may be filled with sawdust, but it's the most effective way to deal with Loki." Tony rubbed his neck. "Besides," he paused, "I doubt Loki is as bad as we make him appear to be. Sure Loki acts like a melodramatic bastard with a stick up his ass, and you know, threw a little hissy fit and tried to take over the world, but can you really blame him?"  
Fury gave him an angry, one eyed glare. Tony felt a hole burning through the side of his head. "Stark, he tossed you out of your own tower. One hundred stories."

"One hundred and two." Tony flashed Fury an innocent smile that he typically saved for charming women into his bed.

It didn't work on Fury, obviously. Not that he wanted to sleep with him anyway.

Fury's eye twitched but he said nothing.

Tony continued his explanation. "With all that has happened to Loki, and the proof that we have that his acts were somewhat forced by Thanos, the Chitauri leader, Loki is not completely at fault."

Clint interrupted, annoyed at Stark's unexpected defending of Loki. "He still deserves-"

"What he deserves," Tony finished, "Is to be sent back. It is their duty, not ours, to deal with him. They fucked him up. They can fix him."

In his attempt to shut everyone up, Fury reluctantly agreed. "Fine, but if I see his ass destroying Manhattan again, I'll have Barton shoot arrows through your eyes." Barton smirked, satisfied by the comment, as Fury stood, spun on his heels, and promptly left the room.

Coulson, Tony, Thor, Steve, Natasha, and Clint watched him leave in mild surprise. They were not expecting Fury to have agreed so quickly. He must have accepted that Asgard would not allow Loki to stay on Earth beforehand, and had troubled them all with the whole ordeal out of spite.

Thor waited for everyone to leave the room before he motioned for Tony to meet him outside. He was certain that Loki would be returned to Asgard, but he had not expected Tony to defend him so. He was grateful to have a fellow teammate on his side.

They met outside. Tony felt a little weird having defended Loki. It shouldn't have mattered, really. He definitely didn't want to think too much about it.  
"Thank you, Son of Stark."

"For what?" Tony questioned sharply. He knew exactly what Thor meant, but Thor either ignored the sharpness or didn't notice it.  
"For defending my brother. I owe you more than my gratitude."

"I didn't do it for him. It was for me. I don't like being called at ungodly hours to fight a guy who thinks it's remotely okay to destroy half of my tower and toss me out the window in the process." Tony was conflicted. He did it to piss off his team rather than to defend Loki. _Why did I actually do it?_ He just wanted to go home.

Thor smiled, noticing the odd way Tony seemed conflicted. "Thank you," he repeated, understanding the confliction perhaps more than Tony had.

Tony calmed himself. With a fake smile he muttered, "You're welcome," and proceeded to rush home.

* * *

By the way, I would like to thank The Beckster (search her up and read her fics! :D ) for help with fixing some lines that we just couldn't get right.


	2. Chapter 2

The beginning of this chapter kind of sucks because it was completely scrapped and rewritten to include Tony. Someone -coughcoughNickcough- was demanding that it be posted today, so here it is (a little rushed)!

-Cindy. (Nick is my partner in crime in writing this. :P We share this account together.) Anyway, please review! :)

* * *

**CHAPTER 2**

Tony Stark casually zipped through the air in a manner not at all reminiscent of retreating from the scene of a crime. He was on his way to Stark Tower. _The longer I can avoid contact with anyone, the better, _he thought, knowing the team would be irked by the forced loss of contact with Tony. He removed the headset device that connected them all. Tony didn't feel much like dealing with Fury or with any of the Avengers really.

He hid himself above the blanket of thick clouds threatening to cover the clear night sky in no hurry at all to make it home. It was nice having time to himself to sit and reflect on the recent happenings.

When Loki first arrived, Thor said that dealing with the Tesseract meant that Earth was ready for a higher form of war. Apparently the other realms took that as an invitation to attack even with the absence of the cosmic cube.

In Tony's opinion, their threats weren't serious. They weren't worth dawdling over.

SHIELD, however, demanded that all the Avengers be present in eliminating the disturbance (even if it only took Natasha to dropkick them out of the sky.) He didn't understand why Fury needed them all there. Tony would have been much happier at home locked away in his lab.

These new alien creatures were dangerous, sure, to the general public, but they were not Loki. It simply was not necessary for more than one of the Avengers to be present to defeat them.

They were hardly worth getting up and off the couch for. Imagine how less they were worth the trouble of getting into the suit.

Usually Tony was able to ignore Fury's requests to join the-devils-in-disguise-as-superheroes-bunch. Annoyingly enough, this time he could not. The day he had decided to (sort of) stick up for Loki was the day the world suddenly decided to make life increasingly less tolerable.

Thor hadn't been the only one confused by his words. The Super Spy Ninja Twins grew suspicious, Captain Moralistic misinterpreted his intentions, and Bruce, well, Bruce got angry.

In between being harassed by SHIELD, the Avengers, and Stark Industry (mostly Pepper), Tony barely had any time to enjoy himself.

He was growing restless constantly being accused of things he himself was not aware of. Feeling compassion for Loki. Being arc reactor/mind controlled by Loki. Not caring for the welfare of the people around him. How ridiculously absurd.

Tony had caught Clint and Natasha staring at him calculating and thoughtful, and not in a good way. It got under his skin, but he should have known. Tony had never been trusted. It was not Tony Stark they wanted. It was Iron Man. Too bad Tony Stark came included with the Iron Man package.

What bothered him the most was Fury's pesky little habit of nagging him to join the fights that desperately _did not _need his help. Sadly for him, every time he denied their invitation claiming he had more important things to do, the team eyed him with even more growing suspicion. Thor, too, had begun to question him. It was really very irritating. It was as if Tony had never intentionally missed something others considered important. It _almost _made him want to drink again.

That was another thing entirely. Tony didn't even remember why he had quit drinking. One day he simply realized that he was more aware of his surroundings when not drunk. With all the things in life he had to deal with, being able to remember even the most trivial thing was substantial.

The other day Steve told him he was being irrational, that he had to try and work better with the team, that he needed to stop doing things for himself and care more about others. He had responded with "And why should I?" _Really, though. Why should I? What made Captain Underpants think the rest of humanity was so important that I need to sacrifice more of the huge chunk of myself that I am already sacrificing?_ Tony shook his head to no one in particular.

It was this growing restlessness and convincing himself of not being able to drink it away that Tony found himself here now, fleeing the remains of what ten minutes ago had been a meager attempt at an alien invasion. A fight, by the way, that had not needed the aid he provided regardless. Tony had blasted them to bits, and it felt good doing it seeing as more than occasionally he pretended he saw the faces of his fellow Avengers on the ugly creatures.

It had not taken long for everything to be done and dealt with. Well, there was still clean up to do, but Tony Stark most definitely did not do maid work. That's what the help was for. After the fight he had taken a few brief seconds to plan his escape and left the dirty work to those used to getting dirty: SHIELD.

The moon was hardly visible tonight, but the stars were bright and clear in the saturated indigo night sky. This part of New York was void of the haze of city lights that polluted Manhattan. Confident that he was far away enough from the Avengers, Tony settled himself down in the inner branches of a sturdy tree. _Clint would be proud of me,_ Tony snickered, making sure he was well hidden behind the foliage. Lifting his visor, Tony breathed in the crisp and cool air. The atmosphere was still and quiet. It was a welcome relief from the cacophony that accompanied being Iron Man.

He scanned the area enjoying the lack of human life in this part of the woods.

Humanity. He was getting sick of it.

Another reason why he had fled the battle scene was because of the hungry brash reporters and the other idiots too stupid and curious to stay away. They shrieked and demanded help during the battles and expressed their short lived gratitude when it was over. Tony liked to compare them to sacks of potatoes and lumps of quivering flesh.

These people claimed to adore him yet were so easy to forget he had saved their lives countless times. They were ungrateful, undeserving fools, and they took any opportunity to exploit Tony's mistakes and accuse him (along with the other Avengers, but most importantly him) as responsible for the recent alien attacks and the civilians whose lives were lost. They simply could not understand that it was all part of the casualties that came with war. The over exaggerated news reports and cover ups that SHIELD supplied contributed to the hysteria of the general public.

With the accusations of both the public and his teammates, Tony was having a really hard time understanding why he simply didn't just kill the humdrums himself. Unfortunately Iron Man was a hero and not a villain. _Loki and I would have made a great team,_ Tony commented silently to himself.

* * *

Meanwhile, Loki found himself sitting in his cell staring at the one thing standing between him and his freedom. He concentrated on the door hoping it would miraculously explode and kill his guardian, yet he knew his wish was in vain. No matter what he wished, the door remained there, and there it would stay until he found a way out of this prison. Even if he somehow managed to get through the door there was still Tyr as an obstacle.

Loki's hatred for Tyr was acknowledged long before he had ever felt hatred for Thor. Knowing Tyr was outside his door at all times made his head throb. Loki only saw Tyr when he brought his meals. They never spoke to each other. Loki did not need to hear his voice to know his thoughts. _You put our family to shame, Loki. How is it that you are a son of Odin?_ Tyr had never considered Loki a brother. That did not matter; the feeling was mutual. Tyr was too much of a simple minded dullard to even begin to comprehend Loki. Even Thor, his "real" brother, the brother he had been raised with since infancy, did not understand how Loki felt. That did not matter either. No one would ever truly understand Loki. Abandoned, overlooked, and confined, he had been the only prince of Asgard to ever receive such open hostility. The idiots never even realized they were doing it.

Thanos had been right, to an extent._ Thanos._ The name, now a distant memory, still triggered the urge to tear the Titan into pieces. The second he laid his eyes on Thanos again he'd do just that. Loki couldn't believe his family's betrayal had hurt so badly that he had allowed such a vile creature to taint his mind with the absurd ideal of enslaving Midgard. Nonetheless, Thanos hadn't been wrong in everything. Asgard had seen him as only the mighty Thor and Tyr's unworthy brother. Loki had been lied to, put down, cast into a shadow, forgotten, and underestimated. He would show Asgard he would no longer acquiesce to confinement. He was not one of them. He was no longer under the influence of the Titan, so he could now act appropriately. He was a god _and_ a frost giant, and it would do Asgard well to realize the extent of his powers.

Loki snickered. Asgard had etched all their collected hatred towards his own kind into him. He knew better now. Loki learned to embrace his Jotun nature. He took advantage of it, even. He had skills and defenses the Aesir had yet to imagine.

Ah, poor Asgard. The pitiful creatures had no clue that the God of Mischief and Chaos was Jotun. The Allfather was ashamed of his youngest son's disgrace, and continued to exclude Asgard in the knowledge that had been kept from Loki his entire life. Even Tyr, his own "brother," was blinded from the truth of Loki's true heritage.

Just then Loki had an epiphany. After his sudden realization of Tyr's ignorance, Loki smiled. For the first time since his detainment he had found something genuinely worth smiling about. Tyr was unaware of Loki's Jotun powers. This means that Tyr was unprepared. Tyr was _underestimating_ him _again. _

It was like a ray of sunlight had entered his dark cell, and he was finally able to see. A plan began to unfurl before his eyes, and Loki chortled happily in reply. He now knew what had to be done. He would wait until Tyr brought his food and surprise him by making an appearance in his true form. The barrier for the room did not allow Loki to use his magic, but it did nothing to stop him from using his Jotun powers. The low chuckle gradually escalated as he envisioned Tyr's defeat. Even if it didn't work, he'd still have the satisfaction of springing a surprise attack and potentially harming Tyr. The immediate knocking on the door that resulted from his laughing did nothing to waver the current mad cackling, and, instead, encouraged it.

Tyr stood on the other side of the door as was his usual routine. At first he had ignored Loki's giggling. He had grown used to hearing meaningless insults directed towards him among other nuisances. It wasn't until the laughing increased in volume that Tyr grew suspicious. Could there possibly be someone in Loki's room? No, impossible. Loki was up to something. Tyr could almost smell it. He had to put an end to it before Loki attempted to cause harm.

"What is going on in there?" Tyr pounded on the door impatiently and irritably.

He heard the laughing stifle for a brief second before recommencing. Creasing his brows in frustration, Tyr extended his fist ready to knock again. His call of "Loki-"was interrupted by a sudden harsh reply.

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know!" On the other side of the door Loki could almost feel the pulse of frustration emitting from Tyr. He sat on the edge of his bed and observed the blue eating away the pale of his Aesir appearance. This is the second time that he has _willingly_ and acceptingly reverted to his natural skin color.

"Loki, have you gone mad?" There was no need to ask since Tyr was almost sure that Loki had gone mad years ago. This was simply more proof. He had gone completely mad and was thinking up a horrible scheme.

"On the contrary. I have merely been entertaining myself." He easily formed a needlelike sliver of ice and aimed it at a crystal figurine on the wall. "Or has that small luxury been taken from me as well? I apologize. I was not aware." The figurine crashed to the floor in happy shards of frosty glass.

"What was that?" Two more crashes and two more broken figurines. "Loki! Speak to me at once!"

Loki did not reply. He was too self absorbed in the joy of being able to use his powers to cause destruction.

"LOKI!" Tyr shook the door in a moment of fleeting rage. Angering himself would only worsen the situation. What was Loki _doing_? Whatever he was planning had to be prevented at once! He would see to it that Loki put an end to it.

"Loki." he repeated, much softer this time.

Loki rose off the bed. Better now than never. He could wait no longer. He made his way to the door and placed a hand on the intricately carved. wood.

"Tyr." Loki's voice was deceptively calm and closer than Tyr would have liked.

Tyr continued warily. "What-" He froze. His wary blue eyes widened at the ominous cold mist creeping up from under the door. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Of what, Tyr?" Tyr was sure Loki was at the other side of the door.

"What are you scheming? Your mischief is no longer tolerated!"

Loki's reply was preceded by mocking laughter. "My _mischief_? Tyr, you have always been so blind. This is _creativity_." Tyr did not like the daunting tone in Loki's voice.

"I do not know what you are devising, Loki, but reconsider your actions lest I am forced to enter."

"And what?" Loki whispered. "What chastisement have you planned for me that you have not already attempted? What If I am, as you accuse me of, scheming? What will you do? What _can_ you do?" He sneered, already sensing Tyr's growing rage. He was such a fool.

The temperature steadily dropped and Tyr could no longer bear to stand and wait. He could already imagine the smirk that was dying to be wiped from Loki's face. Loki wanted to play so he would play. He would force Loki to abide by the rules. Having made up his mind, he growled and reached for the doorknob. Against better judgment, he thrust the door open and prepared to face Loki.

Except that Loki was not behind the door.

* * *

**Note:** I realize that things are going a little fast, but this is our first fanfiction and we don't really want it to be terribly long. We have to get to the part where Tony and Loki meet, so that's why this part is happening so soon.

I also realize that there are some lines that might or might not make sense. That's because this was originally written as a joke between Nick and I, and these lines were written to amuse ourselves and have references to some things we like. heheheh

**Thank you for reading! **


	3. Chapter 3

I would like to thank everyone who has been reading/favoriting/reviewing! It really means a lot to us.

Anyway, here's Chapter 3!

* * *

**CHAPTER 3**

Loki was nowhere to be seen.

Tyr, alarmed, reached for the blade on his hip, hesitating only when he felt a rush of cool air. Every hair on his body rose as unease made itself present. It was not a second later that he felt the searing pain of an icy spear in his gut and the spreading warmth of liquid that resulted.

Tyr turned his head to the side, unblinking wide blue eyes meeting with a pair of bright, and certainly not belonging to Loki, malevolent red eyes. His gaze inched slowly down to see the devilish smirk on the Jotun's face and even lower down to the blue hand viciously and agonizingly pushing the spear of ice through his body. Tyr reached out to stop him, but contact with his icy skin resulted in even more pain.

Gazing at him with amusement in his eyes, the Jotun pulled out the spear and reinserted it higher in between his ribs. Tyr dropped down to his knees, the vision around his eyes going bleary and his head pounding with the continuous stream of blood vacating his body. _A frost giant. How?_ He looked up straining to see the Jotun's face through his blurry eyes and wave of nausea.

"How could you stop me," the Jotun bared his sharp white teeth "if you did not know what I truly was?" _Loki?_ It was not possible. Loki was not a frost giant. "Not so proud and mighty now, are you, Odinson?"

"Loki." Tyr croaked, his uncomprehending eyes still wide with shock and disbelief. "You…"

"Yes, did they not tell you of my true parentage?" Loki snickered briefly. "How _noble_ of your parents and brother to keep the most important truth concerning me a secret."

"You… You are a frost giant…"

"We've established that, yes." The spear continued to push slowly into his body, crushing ribs and inching towards his lungs.

"I- Im- Impossible." Tyr stammered.

"How does it feel to live your life accepting the truth only to discover that the truth is indeed false?" The end of the spear made contact with the outside world, successfully impaling Tyr. Tyr gasped and began to cough when blood came instead of oxygen. Every breath was painful and caused more blood to pour out of both ends of the wound. Loki continued, satisfied with his work. "The truth that you were raised with and_ believed_ only for you to find out that it was all a lie. There is no bigger deceit than that of a parent to a child."

"Brother," Tyr managed. "End this madness." Blood pooled in his mouth and he spit and heaved in between every word.

Loki laughed. They were not brothers. "You will never understand the pain that I felt."

Wincing in pain and ignoring Loki, Tyr tried again to stop him. "It is pointless, Loki. You will be found and captured." If there was anything to make Loki stop, he'd try it.

Loki's reply was a cruel yank of the spear. It shattered into dagger like pieces in his body and onto the floor. He grabbed Tyr's chin and forced him to meet his gaze. "When will you learn, dear _brother_, that you cannot imprison me if not by my own will?" With that he released Tyr's face and stood.

He had to leave the room now. Someone was sure to walk by and notice.

Tyr collapsed onto the floor clutching his bleeding gut. It was useless. There was a gaping hole on two ends of his body, and he did not have the strength to apply pressure. His vision wavered and for once in his life, Tyr welcomed the darkness that enveloped him.

Loki watched Tyr fall unconscious and almost giggled in delight as he felt the barrier, surely controlled by Tyr, weakening. Loki shot a blast of magic at the space of the open door and was met with a large explosion. Damn. People were surely going to take notice of that.

He tried it again, and suddenly there was deafening boom as the now visible barrier cracked and the spell was broken.

Loki was free.

* * *

As the welcome darkness slowly incapacitated all of Tyr's senses, he couldn't help but think of Loki. His brother was Jotun? He had known Loki was adopted from the beginning, but he still did not understand. All his life Tyr thought he had been able to see through Loki's mask. He had disapproved of the dark nature hidden beneath, but never had he suspected this. Loki had revealed his true color, and that color had been deadly blue.

* * *

Thor mindlessly shoved the last bit of bread into his mouth. He hurried to finish his food, having just made the decision to visit his brothers. Tyr would be glad to see him. Loki, not so much. He had chosen not to speak to anyone and was especially fond of purposely ignoring both brothers. He sighed, knowing Tyr had been having a hard time. He rose from his seat, still fighting to swallow the thick piece of bread, when the reverberation of a large explosion ricocheted through the palace walls.

Thor's mouth slid open as he grunted in surprise, causing him to momentarily choke and spit out the bread. His hands clumsily knocked over the plate of unfinished scraps as he desperately reached for Mjolnir.

Thor recognized that specific sound and vibration. He had felt it countless times in his lifetime, usually while in the presence of Loki, but never had he felt it in such magnitude. It was the sound of a magical barrier shattering.

Hammer in hand and wasting no time, Thor shot out of his room racing to the only place he could think of containing a powerful magical barrier that might or might not have just been terminated. The food in his stomach was threatening to resurface as only one explanation came to mind. Loki had broken the barrier. He didn't want to believe it. It was _impossible._ He must be mistaken. As he sprinted towards Loki's room he couldn't help the sinking feeling in his gut that something was very, very wrong. Only seconds had passed but Tyr hadn't made a noise. Was he okay? Where was he?

Thor came to an abrupt stop as he rounded the corner leading to Loki's room and came face to face with Loki himself. He arrived in time to see his brother's skin gradually change from Jotun blue to Aesir pale. His eyes were the last to change from demonic red to their natural green. His jaw slackened in surprise as his grip on Mjolnir tightened. He tried to speak but found it impossible to form a coherent sentence.

"Ah, yes," Loki smiled, almost sweetly, amused by Thor's dumbfound expression. "Until now you had yet to see my true form."

Thor took in his surroundings. The remnants of the room lay in clusters and what was left of the walls looked about ready to fall.  
"Where is Tyr?" Was all Thor managed as he reacquainted himself with his voice.

Loki looked over his shoulder and shrugged. "I may have killed him." The horror displayed on Thor's face was rewarded with a seemingly innocent smile.

Thor's gaze followed Loki's over his shoulder and effectively dropped Mjolnir as he saw what lay beyond. Tyr's pale body was surrounded by a rapidly growing pool of blood.

"Loki, what have you done?" Thor bellowed in disbelief.

"Relax," Loki waved his hands nonchalantly as he made his way towards Thor. "He's not dead yet."

Snapping his eyes away from Tyr's body to Loki's slowly approaching form, Thor quickly picked up Mjolnir.

"GUARDS!" He called desperately. "Guards! Anyone!" Thunder rumbled in the sky as Thor's dread increased.

"Loki," Thor lifted his hammer warily, taking a defensive stance as he eyed the malicious intent in Loki's eyes. "I do not wish to harm you."

Loki's face contorted to a savage grin as his staff materialized in his hands. "But I wish to harm you."

Thor's eyes hardened and lips drew in a tight line. "You do not have to do this."

"I think I do," Loki said looking back at Tyr. "I must leave, and you will not stand in my way."

"Give up, Loki. You will not get away with this. You will not fix your problems by escaping."

"I would rather not cause any more harm, Thor. Kindly get out of my way before I am forced to move you myself. I do not wish to fight you." Both knew it was a lie, but as much as Loki wanted to see Thor cower before his true might, he knew it would be unwise. Fighting would draw unnecessary attention to them, and he simply couldn't risk being surrounded by the whole of Asgard.

Loki was partly relieved by the look in Thor's eyes.

He was less relieved to hear rushed footsteps of those who were close enough to hear the explosion and Thor's yelling.

Thor heard the footsteps, too. "Brother, the guards are coming. You do not have to fight."

Loki's eye twitched at being called Brother but ignored it. "You're right." He raised his staff and aimed it at the direction of the rapidly approaching guards. The walls of the golden palace came crashing down forcibly blocking the passage. That would hold them for a while.

A soft growl escaping from his lips, Thor quickly thrust Mjolnir in Loki's direction.

Loki moved gracefully to avoid the blow. He teleported behind Thor, and having been caught by surprise, Thor received a blast of magic from Loki's staff to his side.

He called Mjolnir to him only to have Loki smack him on the head with the staff. Thor's head pulsed with the sudden blow causing him to lose his balance and fall to the floor. Loki sent him flying to the wall with a powerful kick.

Thor called Mjolnir to him again, but Loki's magic reached him before his loyal hammer could. Mjolnir landed in the palm of his hand, but he could not move. Loki had cast a restraint spell on his limbs.

Fear ebbed itself into Thor as Loki raised his staff ready to deliver another blow. Loki stopped suddenly and ducked, narrowly avoiding the incoming dagger from the newly arrived guards. There were three of them all shouting obscenities at Loki while calling for help for the two immobilized princes.

Loki hurled his staff and successfully impaled one of the guards as another lunged himself at him. Spinning to avoid him, Loki reclaimed his staff and stopped the third guard's sword from slicing his arm. He tried desperately to concentrate on Thor's binds while fighting off the two remaining guards, but he was finding it increasingly difficult as two more guards filed it. Kicking a guard with a force that sent him crashing next to Thor, he sent a bolt of magic to the two new guards. They crashed to the floor but quickly scrambled back up, gritting their teeth in pain.

A new guard entered quietly from the opposite side of the room and thrust a dagger at Loki. Loki, preoccupied with the three guards attacking him at once, was too late to completely avoid the dagger. It pierced his arm and brought a strange burning sensation. The fiery pain traveled its way up Loki's arm. He hissed, immediately recognizing the unwelcome tingling of a poison laced dagger, and dropped to one knee. It was a powerful poison used only in emergencies. Loki hurled his staff, driven by Loki's magic to the guards heart, and got rid of one of the four guards.

The now three remaining guards closed in on Loki as he clutched his stiff, painful arm. Another dagger scraped the side of his face, missing only by a hair's width. He cursed, feeling the stinging of poison on his cheek. He had to leave now before more people found their way in, but he couldn't escape without releasing Thor's binds.

Quickly making up his mind, Loki switched to his Jotun form and sent multiple ice daggers in every which direction. He enchanted the daggers to find the flesh of each guard to hastily rid himself of them. The throbbing pain on his cheek and arm and the concentration of driving the daggers was enough to weaken Loki's hold on Thor's binds and before he knew it, Thor was able to shake away Loki's magic with a mighty roar.

Switching back to his Aesir form and thinking quickly, Loki cloaked himself invisible and sent a clone of himself dashing towards the exit. He smirked with satisfaction as Thor followed his clone and disappeared into the corner. Pausing to make sure all the guards were dead, Loki took a moment to heal the wounds on his arm and cheek. It would take longer to rid his body of the poison, but time was of the essence and for now the poison only made him slightly sluggish.

Loki followed Thor and his clone to properly control it. He sprinted to their location in time to see Thor land the heavy Mjolnir on his clone's chest.

"I've got you," Thor growled as the clone smirked and dissipated into thin air. Another clone appeared further down the hallway and Loki forced a substantial amount of energy creating a portal to escape from.

Loki's second clone bared his teeth in a shark-like smile at Thor before jumping into the portal. Thor was quick to follow, snarling something or the other about not letting Loki get away.

The real Loki watched in mild amusement as the dunce jumped into the portal after the clone.

Thor landed in a field thick with gnarled trees scattered by twisted paths and hidden caves. His eyes scanned the landscape searching for Loki and threw Mjolnir at the first sign of stealthy movement his eyes found. He missed his target, but snapped the trees nearby and seemingly startling the clone. Loki's clone spun to face him, eyes wide in forged alarm. Thor managed a hit on the clone's stomach leaving him winded on the floor. Tearing through the vegetation, Thor found his way to the clone's side and grasped his shoulders. His powerful hands lifted Loki off the ground. All signs of grief were gone on Thor's face, replaced by the fury of having seen his dying brother and all the dead guards whose lives had ended in the hands of Loki.

The clone's eyes met Thor's own, false dread morphing to accomplished mischief.

"You always fall for the same trick, you blithering idiot." The clone turned into a misty swirl of green air as Thor stood dumbfounded, hands grasping thin air where Loki's clone once stood.

Lightning illuminated the darkening sky as Thor realized Loki's deceit. He spat angrily and cursed, once again searching for any sign of the God of Chaos. Running into a field clear of trees, Thor was met with a new wave of panic. He was face to face with a herd of angry bilgesnipe. Three seconds away from being trampled to death by a bunch of repulsive creatures, he spun Mjolnir and escaped to the safety of the skies.  
Thor had no idea what part of Asgard he was in, and less of an idea how to get back to civilization.

_Sneaky little devil_, Thor fumed. The God of Mischief sure did live up to his name. He not only defeated you (as hard as that was to admit) he made sure you were humiliated. Thor growled angrily, peering down at the petty creatures trying desperately to attack him from below. The mighty Thor simply _did not_ run away from bilgesnipe!

* * *

Nearby, Loki mustered all the remaining energy he had to teleport himself to another realm. Knowing he needed to go to a place where he could both hide and replenish his energy, he teleported to Jotunheim. He would not be able to stay long since he knew the Aesir would eventually come searching for him, but at least being there would bide him time. The few who knew about his true heritage were most likely unaware that he no longer resented it.

The important thing was that Loki was finally out of Asgard and away from confinement and the wretched, pathetic Aesir.

He immediately looked around, taking in the landscape and hoping he had landed in the correct spot. He meant to land in a part of Jotunheim that was devoid of life and was duly satisfied when he took in the barren land. Everywhere he turned he saw varying shades of blue, gray, and white. Wrinkling his nose in distaste, he reminded himself that he need only stay long enough to recover. Loki was never a fan of the dull monochromatic color scheme of Jotunheim. He weaved in and out of broken ice pillars, truly appreciative that he had landed in an empty corner of the ailing icy world. The silence that accompanied the emptiness was a welcome relief from the chaos he had just departed from.

Loki's next step was to look for shelter. The hot poison in his blood and still fresh wounds were a painful reminder of his need to rest.

Loki searched for nearly an hour until he found an abandoned cave that would be adequate. Propping himself against the wall of the cave, he closed his eyes and concentrated on pulling the poison out of his bloodstream. He then concentrated on healing the remaining cuts on his body and the pretty gift of bruised and fractured ribs Mjolnir had left him. Having finished that, Loki released a sigh and slid to the floor. The final step was to reinforce the spell that would hide him from Heimdall's eyes. Using the last bit of energy he could muster, he did just that.

Honestly, he didn't know what he was going to do next. He was only sure that he would not allow himself to be recaptured.

With that thought, Loki found himself once again staring up into an empty ceiling before closing his eyes and allowing sleep to take over.

* * *

**Thank you for reading!** Chapter 4 will be posted next weekend.


	4. Chapter 4

This chapter is a little boring, but it's necessary to keep it moving.

* * *

**CHAPTER 4**

Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, ex-playboy, philanthropist, and now irritable and hungry, was roused from his much needed slumber by an odd thumping noise coming from his window. He shuffled to the window, groaning and ready to insult whoever it was that very rudely interrupted his sleep. Tony went over to the window and slid the panel open, immediately pulling himself backwards when something dull and hard struck his forehead. He caught himself on the corner of the bookshelf and rubbed his eyes.

"What the hell just hit me?" He said out loud.

"_It appears to be an arrowhead, sir._" Jarvis supplied.

Tony looked down to see a rubber arrowhead wrapped neatly in a paper ball. He picked it up and carefully removed the paper. It was a note.

_"__**Let us in. **_

**_-Clint & Natasha_**_."_

Tony rolled his eyes and stuck his head out the window, finally awake enough to catch sight of the two assassins below. He waved and commanded Jarvis to let them in and show them the way up.

Deciding he needed to freshen up a bit, Tony wandered over to the bathroom and splashed water on his face. After brushing his teeth and throwing on a fresh pair of clothes, he made his way to the living room and wasn't very surprised to see the pair of SHIELD agents already waiting for him.

"Morning Tony," Natasha said politely as Clint smirked, proud of having had the chance to hit Tony in the head with a toy arrow.  
Tony nodded his head in reply and scowled at Clint, obviously not feeling his good spirits.

"Couldn't have sent a text, Barton?" Tony grumbled, motioning for them to sit.

"I forgot to bring my phone. Besides, you probably wouldn't have answered." Clint replied.

"About that." Natasha interrupted suddenly.

"I was sleeping," Tony said defensively, having caught Natasha's switch from friendly to serious.

"That does not explain why you haven't picked up any calls in the past week." Natasha reprimanded.

Tony rolled his eyes again. "I have."

"That's not what SHIELD has been saying!" Clint said, almost singing.

Placing a hand on his hip, Tony complained, "You came here to ask me why I haven't been answering Fury and Coulson's calls?" He waved his hand dismissively. "Since when have I ever willingly answered their calls?"

Natasha rubbed her temple with one hand, ignoring the urge to smack the child out of Tony. "Tony, you know the situation you're in. We're only trying to help you, you know. You don't want to give Fury any more reason to be suspicious of you."

_Are they joking?_ Tony's eyebrows shot up."What situation?" Tony scoffed. "There is no fucking situation. Nothing has changed that SHIELD needs to worry about."

"There are a lot of things that SHIELD has to worry about with you." Clint muttered.

Natasha glared at him and motioned for him to shut up.

"Look Stark," Clint started, ignoring Natasha's glare. "I don't care how pissed you get. You know what this is about as well as Natasha does. What you said back at the meeting, after Loki le-"

"Barton!" Natasha warned. "That is not what this is about."

"It's not?" Tony spoke up. "You mean to say you haven't been around my tower snooping around, and trying to hack my system, and trying to convince yourselves that somehow I'm being controlled by a god who's on another fucking planet?" Tony took a step forward threateningly.

Natasha raised both palms in the air. "I trust you Tony, and I can only hope that you can trust us too," She said sympathetically.

"You want me to trust the best liar this world has to offer. That's asking too much, even for SHIELD." Tony looked at the two with disgust. He was getting sick and tired of their games.

Natasha quieted, a look of resentment filling her eyes. Tony snickered. _She hates being pointed out what she is and always will be. _

Clint decided to take a different approach. "We just want to make sure that what happened to me isn't happening to you, Tony. I hope you understand. All _I_ want to understand is why you said what you said about Loki. Your recent behavior hasn't proved to be good news to me. Loki is the enemy, Tony, not a teenager whose life can be changed by a visit to the therapist."

Tony opened his mouth to shout something but stopped as his phone vibrated in the way it only did when Jarvis was texting him discreetly. Tony opened the message and discarded it just as quickly.

Natasha took the pause as hesitation. "Is there anything you'd like to share, Tony?"

Tony eyed the both of them, malicious intent and hatred growing with every spoken word.

"What I mean is that we're here if you need to talk. We won't judge you. We're just trying to help." Natasha said trying to appease Tony before he grew fur and raised his hackles.

Tony shook his head. "Get out."

"What?" Clint said, not terribly surprised.

"Are you going to stand here and accuse me some more or are you going to get the fuck out of my tower?" Tony snapped.

"Come on, Tasha." Clint sighed. "Clearly we woke him up with a stick jabbed up his ass." He was still angry at Tony, and he didn't care if Tony or Natasha knew it.

"Hold on a minute. I'm not trying to accuse you of anything. Why can't you just tell us what you're feeling? That's what teammates are for, Tony. That's what friends are for." Natasha said, paying no attention to Clint.

"I'm getting sick and tired of people ignoring me." Clint whispered to himself.

"You want to know what I'm feeling?" Tony replied bitterly. "I feel like my teammates, the people I'm supposed to be closest to and trust my life with, don't trust _me_. I feel that no matter what I do you'll always find a reason to doubt me. I feel like the rest of you blame me for things just to convince yourselves you're better than I am, because being better than me means you really are the good guys. You're not the good guys, and you're not my friends. I never needed you." Tony paused to let his words sink in. Well, mostly he paused because he liked to add a bit of dramatic flair to everything.

Natasha opened her mouth to counter but was interrupted by Tony.

He raised his hand to stop her and continued. "Listen to me first. I never came to you. SHIELD called me because they needed me. I don't need to be in a team to be Iron Man." Pausing to take a breath, Tony gave them one last hard look. "I saved your asses, all of you, yet you've failed to make me wonder why I didn't just let the nuke fall." He waved his hand, motioning for them to leave. "Tell Fury I said our little contract is over. SHIELD is not welcome here. And, Jarvis, see that they find the exit."

Natasha and Clint stared wordlessly back at Tony, mouths agape. Tony almost had to pinch himself to contain his laughter. _Can't ruin the act_, he reminded himself.

Tony stood stubbornly and pointed to the door. He kept his eyes on Clint and Natasha until they disappeared behind the closed doors of the elevator.

After they left and Jarvis made sure that they were out of his property, Tony smiled to himself. _Even they can feel guilt._

His monologue hadn't been a complete lie, but it was definitely a little exaggerated. He knew it'd get them to leave him alone, even if just for a little while. They'd come crawling back, though, like they have before. After all, the Avengers were nothing without him.

"Jarvis," Tony summoned. "Make sure to block all incoming calls from SHIELD and inform them that I will no longer be their consultant."

_"Of course, sir. Would you like to state a reason why?"_

"No. Don't mention the recording." Tony was referring to the reason for his sudden outburst of anger: Jarvis' text message. Jarvis detected a recording device hidden in Natasha's clothes and promptly intercepted the device and informed Tony. He couldn't destroy what was already recorded, which wasn't much since Jarvis had detected it seconds after they had entered, but he manipulated it so that the rest of the recording came out as static and jumbled noises.

"Where would I be without you, Jarvis?" Tony mused out loud.

"_Most likely dead, sir_." Jarvis replied arrogantly.

Tony sighed. "Always so humble, Jarv."

"_I am only as my master created me_."

Of course he had been the one to invent the only Artificial Intelligence system that was able to sass him. He was just about to dismiss him when Jarvis interrupted.

"_Sir, Miss Potts is on her way up." _

"See what she wants." Tony demanded.

There was a pause and then, "_Miss Potts says to let her in and she'll explain. She said it was not bad news_."

"Let her in." Tony mumbled, not really wanting to see his CEO sort-of-girlfriend.

Pepper stepped out of the elevator with no visible documents present. Tony was relieved. He was in no mood for Stark Industries paperwork.

Pepper walked over, a worried expression on her face. "Tony," she started.

"Nope!" He interrupted. "You said no bad news."

"This isn't bad news." Pepper smiled reassuringly. "I just want to talk to you about your behavior towards your friends."

Tony narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Did you meet Natasha and Clint on the way up?"

"I did." Pepper confirmed. "You didn't mean that, did you?"

"I may have." Tony replied coldly, annoyance already building up.

"I know you better than anyone else, Tony. Don't you think you may have said that just to-" Pepper began.

"You don't know me. You think you know me, but you don't. Stop trying to change me!" Tony shouted dramatically. "I'm not in the mood for it."

Pepper took a step back, clearly startled.

"I'm sorry." Tony said softer than before. He didn't think she'd take him that seriously, but he couldn't help that she was contributing to the foul mood he was in.

Pepper shook her head. "I think you should apologize to them."

Tony was a little less sorry now. "Why? They're trying to keep me under surveillance. I hate that! How are they my friends when they don't even trust me and won't admit it?"

"Tony," Pepper said, her voice stern with a hint of demanding that Tony didn't like one bit. "Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff seemed very concerned about you."

She was beginning to give Tony a headache. "They're spies, Pepper. They're Fury's rats. Any visible emotion on their faces is anything but genuine."

"Stop being such a conspiracy theorist, Tony. No one is out to get you! What's gotten in to you lately?" Pepper started babbling. "I hardly see you anymore!"

Tony shot her a scornful look letting her know that he was not amused. "Oh, poor me!" He said in a high pitched voice meant to mimic Pepper. "Tony is so busy saving the world that he doesn't have time for me anymore!"

Pepper's face reddened and she huffed angrily. "I've had enough."

"Then please see your way out, Ms. Potts." Tony smiled charmingly.

"I guess you're better left alone." Pepper remarked indignantly. She knew he only called her Ms. Potts when he was angry at her.

"Go." Tony replied harshly. He leveled her with a look that made it known it wasn't a suggestion.

Having never received that look from Tony, Pepper remained silent for the better part of a minute. She didn't want to leave, but Tony wasn't giving her any options.

"Dead weight." Tony said to Pepper's back as she retreated into the elevator. If it weren't for her usefulness as CEO, he would have lost interest in her long ago. Things just aren't the same after you risk your life and your girlfriend yells at you for almost dying to save the world.

"I'm really beginning to dislike her presence." Tony muttered to Jarvis. He threw himself on the couch and finally began to relax now that he was alone.

* * *

Natasha sat down on her own couch adjacent to Clint. Both were sitting at an angle silently facing each other. Natasha sighed. She hadn't meant for it to go that badly. Dealing with Tony Stark was like watching for lightning. You never knew when or where it would strike.

Clint reached over and took Natasha's hand in his. "Don't feel bad." He murmured. "We both knew he wouldn't take it well."

"I know." Natasha sighed. "It's not that. You know Tony hasn't been acting the same, but he's not revealing enough for us to place it."

"Yeah," Clint agreed. "I don't mean to keep prying at the Loki idea, but what if he did do something to him?"

"I don't think so." Natasha assured. "Fury does, but I don't know. I think having a near death experience changed him, again."

"But the first time it was a good change, I guess." Clint then tapped his chest where the arc reactor would be. "I don't think it's possible for Loki to control that. It's mechanical. It's not his actual heart."

"His arc reactor isn't what we should be focusing on." Natasha looked troubled.

"What should we be focusing on, then?" Clint noticed the troubled look. Natasha didn't mask her emotions to those close to her.

"You know what Tony is capable of." She waited for Clint to nod before continuing on. "Tony Stark alone, aside from being Iron Man, is a threat."

"His intelligence, his past, his state of mind." Clint nodded again. "And with Iron Man, he wouldn't have to try too hard to take the world down with him."

"This is why SHIELD stepped in when he revealed himself." Natasha commented.

"I know. Fury didn't like the idea, but Coulson convinced him that we'd rather have him with us than against us." Clint paused and then continued. "Was he different? When you were undercover, I mean." He was referring to the time Tony was being poisoned to death by his own arc reactor.

"He was self destructive." Natasha shook her head in remembrance. "Now he seems like he'd rather be the cause of destruction. He wants to be alone. You heard him today. He wants nothing to do with us."

"He said he wants nothing to do with SHIELD." Clint corrected. "I don't think he meant he'd stop being an Avenger. You saw the look on his face."

"Yes." Natasha considered. "But he wasn't lying." Clint nodded as Natasha continued. "He was guarded. He was choosing his words and trying to drive us away."

"Pepper said Tony was being distant from her too." Clint reminded.

"Yeah, but he always has been. His infatuation with Pepper was because she was someone he had but couldn't have. He needs her for the company, but he doesn't need her in the way that she wants him to."

Wanting to return to the topic before Pepper, Clint decided to ask for the recording. "Did you get it?" He motioned to her chest.

Natasha pulled out the device, rolling her eyes at Clint's ogling of what her hand had been digging into. "Barton." She warned.

He rolled his eyes in response. "Let's hear it."

Natasha pushed play and handed it to Clint. They listened to each other greet Tony before the recorder exploded into a mad jumble of horrible noises. Clint turned it off and, bewildered, looked at Natasha.

"Is it broken?" He wondered.

"It can't be." Natasha said dumbfounded. "I checked it a dozen times. It's SHIELD standard issue." She tested it again, speaking into it and playing it back to make sure it was indeed functional.

"It does work." It was Clint's turn to look troubled.

"Stark." Natasha and Clint said in accord.

"That must have been what he checked on his phone suddenly." Natasha said, not having missed the detail.

"That explains the outburst." Clint shrugged. "We should have expected no less of him. Of course he'd find out."

"We keep underestimating him." Natasha mumbled. "It's not a good thing."

"I don't know what we can do. Tony's not going to let us keep an eye on him, you know. Not after today." Clint stilled. "Do you think he'll try to get back at us?"

"No." Natasha decided. "I don't think he wants us to actually leave him alone. We have to be there for him or he'll turn against us."

"That means we can't tell Fury." Clint deduced.

"He'll find out eventually, but I'd rather it be later than sooner. We have to inform Steve and Bruce on the situation. They can help us reason with Tony."

"Let's call them over." He tossed his phone to Natasha. "On a secure line not under SHIELD's control."

"Now?" Natasha said, mildly surprised. "I wasn't aware that you cared that much for Tony."

Clint snickered. "I care that we don't have a teammate being brain fucked by Loki."

Natasha pursed her lips and picked up the phone, dialing both Steve and Bruce.

* * *

**Thank you for reading!**

Note: If you haven't noticed, Coulson never died in this fic. :P


	5. Chapter 5

First of all, I am so so so so terribly sorry about the extremely late update. There was a family emergency, and then work and finals I had to get through, but all is well now. :) Again, I'm sorry!

* * *

**CHAPTER 5**

"HEIMDALL!" Thor shouted, lost and needing to go to his older brother's aid. Having made sure that Loki was gone, he decided that he needed to return to Tyr.

"Heimdall!" Thor called again. "Can you hear me?" He was beginning to worry when a golden flash brought him before the palace walls.

He bowed his head to Heimdall, silently thanking him. "How is…" Thor started, too afraid to ask.

With a solemn face, Heimdall looked the prince in the eyes and confessed, "Tyr clings to the little life he has left, but his condition is not worsening." Thor exhaled in relief, but remained silent. "Tyr shares your blood. He will make it. He just needs time." Heimdall comforted. "He is in the palace healing room. Go."

"Mother and Father?" Thor questioned.

"They are with him." Heimdall bowed. "Be with your family, my prince."

Thor nodded his head, grateful and worried. He opened the door to enter the palace but then paused. "And Loki?" He whispered.

Heimdall bared his teeth, a wave of frustration immediately molding his face into anger. "I cannot tell. He has hidden himself from my gaze."

Thor huffed and let out a deep sigh. "Loki," he whispered. _I cannot imagine_, Thor thought, _what Heimdall might feel with the knowledge that he is blind to something._

Thor placed a large hand on the Gatekeeper's shoulder reassuringly. "Do not trouble yourself, old friend, we will find him. You have not failed us."

Heimdall turned his gaze to the stars as Thor left and whispered into the wind. "I will find you," he growled, letting the wind carry the words away in hopes that they'd reach Loki.

Thor reached the healing rooms out of breath, having run the whole way there.  
"Thor!" Frigga cried, voice thick with grief. She wrapped her arms around him, damp face brushing against his chest. He wiped her tears away.

"Mother," Thor spoke softly, "How is he?"

Frigga, too upset to speak, continued crying into Thor's chest. Thor rubbed her back soothingly.

"Crying will do you no good, dear." Odin took his wife in his arms and held her close.

Thor bowed to the king. "I am sorry, Father. I could not stop him."

Odin wiped his own tear, still holding his wife close. "It is no fault of yours, Thor."

"It is." Thor sighed. He forced himself to walk over to the bed where his brother lay in a wash of amber healing light. "Forgive me, Brother. Forgive me."

With a sharp intake of breath, Odin sat Frigga down and motioned for Thor to sit alongside them. "How did this happen, Thor?"

Thor shook his head. "I do not know, Father. We've underestimated him."

Odin urged Thor to continue.

"I arrived when it was too late. Loki was out, not a single scratch on him, and Tyr," Thor paused, regret for having left his brother alone apparent, "Tyr lay in a pool of his own blood."

Odin, trying to push his grievances aside in favor of his kingly duties, asked, "Are you sure it was Loki?"

Thor nodded. "I fought him myself. He is different, Father. It was different from when we fought on Midgard."

Odin shut his eye. "What do you make of that?"

"He is himself again. We can now confirm that Loki's judgment on Midgard was clouded with foreign influence."

Odin rested his head on Frigga's shoulder, in deep thought. Frigga breathed heavily. "My sons," she whimpered, "Oh, my sons."

"Loki does not make the same mistake twice." Odin said gravely. "If what you speak is true, we will not yet find him."

"We will." Thor growled, eyes brimming with hatred and tears. "We will find him, and we will end him."

Frigga sobbed loudly. "No," she whimpered again.

Thor placed an arm around her and continued stroking her back. "He is no longer your little boy, Mother. You do not understand." Thor faced Odin. "The battle on Midgard, Loki was not in control. It was hysterical and wild. It was not so today. Loki is a formidable opponent, and he is in control now."

Odin and Frigga were silent.

"I had hope on Midgard. I had hope that Loki would come to his senses and return home to us." Thor shook his head, letting the tears fall. "He came to his senses, his mind is no longer under influence of the Void, but he has done this instead."

Odin placed a hand on Thor's shoulder. "Do you have any idea where he could have gone?"

Thor closed his fists into balls and dug his nails into his palm. "No. He fooled me. Again. I did not even see him go." His father looked up at him questioningly. "He used clones," Thor clarified.

"I do not understand," Frigga sniffled.

"Nor will we ever," Odin said. "Unless Tyr awakens." All three turned to look at his resting body, wounds having been cleaned and bandaged by the healers. "Even then we might not ever know."

"There is one more thing." Thor said darkly.

Odin and Frigga turned to him questioningly. "He reverted to a Jotun form."

Odin nodded, confused. "He is Jotun."

"Yes, but he used his Jotun form to attack us. He killed the guards." Thor frowned. He thought that Loki hated his Jotun form.

"He must have been desperate." Odin commented, still confused.

"I do not know, but what I do know is that we must find him." Thor continued.

Odin nodded, "But not now. Now we should focus on Asgard and controlling the damage he has created."

Thor looked at his father angrily. "Not now?" He stammered, wanting to get his hands on Loki as soon as possible.

"Not now." Odin demanded, his voice booming. "Loki will hide. It will give us time to prepare for any upcoming threats. Heimdall cannot find Loki. We will have less luck."

"It seems so." Thor relented. "But we have not tried."

"Enough, Thor! We will stay here with Tyr. News spreads fast. The people of Asgard are going to hear rumors. They will panic and some will revolt. Loki is a priority, but we have Asgard to handle." Odin rose from his seat, and motioned towards the hall. "I will see to them now."

Frigga stood to go with him, but Odin motioned for her to sit. "Stay with our son. He needs you." Frigga sat down and moved her hand to caress Tyr's sleeping body.

"Thor," Odin waved. "Come along."

Thor kissed his mother and bowed. "Be strong, Mother." She nodded and responded with an embrace.

"What is to happen now?" Thor asked, following Odin into the meeting room.

Odin hesitated. "Our people demand an explanation, and, as king, I am compelled to give one."

Thor followed his father into the great golden room filled with rowdy and confused Aesir. Upon seeing them they were met with a chorus of questions, both demanding and worried.  
"Allfather! What has happened?" and "Prince Thor, the explosion!" along with skeptical questions such as "Where is Prince Tyr? Where is Queen Frigga? Where is Loki!?" and more "What has happened!"

Odin struck Gungnir on the ground, demanding silence. The crowd ceased to speak, but the tension in the air failed to dissipate.

"I will speak, and you will be silent," the Allfather warned. "There will be no questions. This is an emergency. Accusations and speculation will not be tolerated."

Odin waited until the hall was completely quiet to speak.

"No questions," Odin reminded. He was quiet for a minute unsure of what to say. The Aesir waited, uneasy and impatient, but they didn't dare speak. He decided to go with the blunt truth. "Loki has escaped. We do not know how. We do not understand how he could have, but we will not let that deter us in our quest to find him. As of now we cannot locate him." Odin and Thor ignored the collective gasp and cries of their audience.

"As for Tyr, I regret to say that he has been injured. Your queen is with him now." He left it brief and vague, not wanting to elaborate on the condition of his elder son. More cries sounded in the audience and it soon erupted into an angry roar.

Odin struck his staff once more. "There is nothing we can do but watch after Tyr. We will need the support of all of Asgard! We must ensure that our prince recuperates," Odin paused, knowing soon the warriors of Asgard would resent what he would say next, "and we must accept that as of now we must let Loki go. He is much too dangerous, and Asgard is in no shape to fight back." He turned to Thor. "Unless we seek help from Midgard." The crowd leered in disapproval, not because they wished to belittle Midgard, but because Asgard was full of proud and single minded warriors.

Thor stepped forward finally ready to speak. "I do not doubt Midgard's warriors would be willing to help us," he started. "This is not the time to do so. Many of you, myself included, may disagree," Thor paused as his father turned to glare at him, "but I accept that it is not in Asgard's best interest. We must focus on protecting our realm. Loki will hide," Thor repeated Odin's earlier lecture, "He will not show his face any time soon, and when he does, he will come with vengeance. We must take this time to heal and to prepare, and I trust that together, we will keep Asgard safe." The crowd roared, appeased by the idea of being able to protect their mighty home.

Thor stepped back and let the Allfather resume center stage.

"Thor, you may join your mother," Odin whispered. Thor bowed and made his way to the exit, missing the rest of Odin's speech.

Instead of joining his mother, Thor decided he'd rather go to his chambers. He didn't want to spend more time watching his ailing brother suffer. _I'll join Mother soon, _Thor promised himself.

Thor put his hands on his head and massaged his temples. _What shall I tell the Avengers?_ He tried to picture Fury's reaction and grimaced. Clint would shoot his eyes out. Natasha would shoot him all over. Bruce would Hulk out and flatten him. Tony. He didn't know what Tony would do. _They trusted me, _Thor sighed_, and I let them down. _The childish part of Thor was screaming "I told you so!" but he chose to ignore it.

"Stark," Thor said aloud, wondering. Tony had defended Loki but he had yet to understand why. He understood that Tony didn't do it for Loki, and he doubted that Tony did it for him (Thor). Either he really did it for himself like he claimed to, (except that Thor couldn't think of a reason why) or he felt some kind of sympathy for Loki. That seemed less likely since he doubted any Midgardian had the capability to sympathize with Loki. He had, after all, almost destroyed their realm.

The main problem at hand was that Loki was gone and not only Asgard was in danger. Thor had to go to Midgard as soon as possible and inform them of the dire situation, no matter how reluctant he was to do so. He just wasn't sure how he would get there with the problem on Asgard.

Thor was too lost in thought to notice his father standing beside him.

"Son," the Allfather interrupted. Thor nodded. "We have decided. You are to go to Midgard."

"What?" Thor replied in earnest shock.

"They are in danger. They must know of Loki's escape."

"What of Asgard?" Thor didn't think the Allfather was willing to tend to Asgard alone.

"The citizens of Asgard are in turmoil as expected. It is nothing your mother and I cannot handle." Odin pulled his son close and patted his back reassuringly. "I understand, my son. Go to Midgard and gather your brothers in arms. Find him. Find Loki."

"You told me it was best not to look for him," Thor said, still bemused.

Odin nodded. "I was convinced that, given time, your allies on Midgard may aid you in locating him."

_It must have been Mother. _Thor agreed. "Very well."

"You shall leave tomorrow morn." With that Odin waved his farewell and wished his son good luck.

* * *

Loki crinkled his nose in distaste. He had finally left the dreary place that was Jotunheim, but didn't currently find himself in any better of a location. He was on Midgard in hopes that Asgard and the Avengers, because surely they've heard of his escape by now, thought him not foolish enough to return. He chose to land in a place his magic knew he would not be recognized. He did not, however, expect there to be people present. He sunk himself deeper into the tattered mattress he seemed to be crouching on. This was definitely not going according to plan.

"Mmm," someone moaned from the other end of the pile of rubbish Loki was concealing himself behind. "Uhhh." He wanted to bash their heads in for their being raucous and vile.

Loki didn't know what to do. He was torn between wanting to kill them and not wanting to leave a trace of his presence behind. He almost resigned himself to waiting it out until he decided he'd had enough.

Springing up from the mattress and picking up the closest heavy object he could get his hands on, Loki let out a frustrated huff and thrust the object at the two offending individuals.

"Of all the places on this realm," he sneered, "I find myself in the proximity of the two most repulsive filthy human beings I have ever laid eyes on." The intoxicated homeless couple rolled off of each other to concentrate on watching Loki. "And _copulating_ on a pile of dirt and excrement! I should _kill_ you both for such disgusting behavior."

"Bro," the man slurred. "Ain't gotta start throwin' shit. Fuck, if you wanna join jus' gotta say." The woman next to him giggled.

Loki clenched some of his hair in agony. "I cannot kill them. I cannot kill them. I will_ not_ kill them!" He teleported away hoping they were too stupid and intoxicated to remember.

* * *

Thor landed in Fury's main office, loose sheets of paper and his cape swirling about him. Fury, far too used to these kinds of things happening, didn't even flinch.

"Thor," Fury greeted.

"Director," Thor replied solemnly. "I come with news."

"Good news, I hope." Fury doubted. _I hope to fucking Hell it's not Loki. _

"It does not fare well." Thor frowned.

"With that look on your face, how can it?" _Please not Loki. _

"It concerns," Thor hesitated. "Loki."

"Well, shit."

* * *

**Thank you for reading! **  
It was a little difficult finishing this chapter up, but here it is. I wasn't satisfied with all the boring Thor/Odin bits, so I removed some scenes. It made the chapter way shorter, though, so I added a short Loki scene instead. :D It just means Loki and Tony will meet sooner than expected.


	6. Chapter 6

This chapter starts off with the Avengers, but it revolves around Tony/Loki later. :)

* * *

**CHAPTER 6**

Thor was dreading this moment. He let his eyes wander around the room, taking in the faces of his teammates. They seemed particularly distressed. Thor wondered if perhaps somehow they already knew about Loki.

"Well, are we starting now or what? I don't have all day," Clint said in mock superiority. He spun his swivel chair and pretended to flip his hair, earning a chuckle from Bruce and an elbow jab from Natasha.

Thor had been meaning to ask about Tony's whereabouts when Fury beat him to it.

"Where the hell is Tony?" Director Fury grumbled, annoyed.

The teammates, with the exception of Thor, looked at each other uneasily. Thor didn't understand. He tried to read their expressions, but it led to no avail. _Is this about Tony? _

"I'd imagine you'd have gotten used to waiting for him, sir." Agent Coulson smiled bleakly.

Fury rolled his eye but didn't deign a reply.

"Director, may we proceed? What might be so important that we're actually waiting for Tony?" Natasha wondered aloud.

Fury turned to give one of his top agents a stern look. "I didn't think I had to repeat myself when I said _all_ Avengers have to be present for this."

"But Sir," Steve spoke, unsure, "This is all the Avengers." Thor turned to the captain, incredulous.

Fury noted the serious look on the Captain's face and almost spilled his coffee. "You're fucking kidding me? Where's Stark?" _That stupid message_, Fury remembered, _did he actually quit?_

"Gone," Bruce sighed.

Thor was definitely surprised now. Tony could not have abandoned them.

"Excuse me?" Coulson's eyebrows shot up, and he turned to look at Steve for confirmation.

"Gone," Steve confirmed.

"By gone," Fury brought a hand to his forehead, "You better mean kidnapped or dead."

Steve and Bruce turned to Natasha and Clint. Fury followed their movements. "Is there something you two want to tell me?"

Clint shook his head. "Not particularly, no."

"Let me rephrase that. Is there something you two are hiding that I should know about?"

"Probably," Natasha mumbled uncharacteristically.

Fury began tapping his foot in anticipation. "Well?"

"We talked to Tony yesterday. Cutting to the chase, basically, we think Tony is having another breakdown. He informed us that he wants nothing to do with us or SHIELD."

Fury considered the message from earlier. "So that message from yesterday wasn't a drunken rambling."

"Tony doesn't drink anymore." Coulson reminded unhelpfully.

"Whatever." Fury turned to Clint and Natasha. "Tell me everything."

"How can this be?" Thor's eyes were suddenly wide with shock and denial. _Could this possibly be related to Loki? No, no, no, impossible. _

"There's not much to tell." Clint conceded. "We've all noticed he's been acting funny." Everyone nodded. "We went to see what's up. He bitched at us for asking and then kicked us out. Said something along the lines of 'I saved all your asses, but I should have just let you die.' I don't get it, but Tasha and I think he's having another near death breakdown because of the wormhole incident."

Fury shrugged, accepting it as a reasonable scenario. "Anything you'd like to add, Agent Romanoff?" He asked.

Natasha shook her head. "That's what happened."

"And you didn't think to tell me?" Fury was angry, but there was a more pressing matter at hand. He wanted to move on from Tony to Loki.

"It wasn't relevant at the time. We were acting as worried friends, not as worried teammates. Then he bailed on us." Clint took a deep breath. "He's been like this since Loki, you know."

"I don't believe Loki is behind this." Natasha spoke up. Clint's face turned three shades darker. She turned to him and continued, "Not that I haven't been seeing your point, Barton, but I don't think Loki would be able to keep a hold on Stark from a cell on another planet."

"I thought we were over this." Clint motioned for her to drop it.

Thor was deep in thought, attempting to piece a puzzle where Tony and Loki could have been involved. It would explain why Tony had defended him. His thoughts were disrupted by the mention of Loki, and decided it was time the reason for the meeting was heeded.

"Friends," he began solemnly. "There is a grave matter we must tend to."

Fury turned his attention to Thor. "Let's put Stark aside for a bit and get to the point of this meeting, since apparently we're all here," Fury said bitterly.

The scowl on Clint's face couldn't have gotten any deeper. "He escaped, didn't he?"

Bruce groaned. "Thor, for the Other Guy's sake, please say he didn't."

Thor couldn't bring himself to face his teammates. He looked at the floor instead. They took that as an affirmative.

"God fucking damn it!" Clint cursed. "I knew we should have kept him here."

"It was inevitable," Steve ran a hand through his hair.

"First Tony, now this? Didn't you say you guys would watch him in Asgard? How could he escape from an impenetrable magic resisting room? Did you fight him? Did you just_ let _him get away?" Clint stood now, pointing an accusing finger at Thor.

Natasha was silent. She agreed.

"Barton," Steve warned. "Please remain calm."

Fury and Coulson, too, remained silent. They both supported Clint somewhat.

"I'm not staying calm! That insane son of a bitch got loose and then Tony starts acting funny. Can you put two and two together?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Fury reminded him. "Stark is acting by his own volition."

"I do not understand what Tony has to do with Loki," Thor spoke up, "But I assure you it was not our intention to allow Loki's escape."

"Real good job shutting him away," Clint sneered, "Magic room, my ass."

Bruce rubbed his eyes. "How did Loki escape?" Ironically, he was the most successful in remaining calm.

"Loki," Thor started but was then interrupted by an angrier-by-the-minute Clint.

"Where the hell is he?" Clint was mentally punching holes through Thor with arrows.

"We're not blaming Thor for his escape," Natasha said, her way of scolding Clint.

"We're not the ones who let Loki get away," Clint muttered.

Thor stood up, having lost his patience. "Enough! You are not the only ones outraged by Loki's escape!"

Clint opened his mouth to object, but Thor didn't give him a chance to speak.

"Your first thought is to condemn me of having released Loki, barring the realization that none in this room were present. I did not plan to fight Loki as I did, nor was I aware of his capability to fight in such a manner. And never," Thor sighed, "Did I expect to see my beloved brother Tyr in a pool of his own blood, death imminent by Loki's hand." The room was silent, having been affected by Thor's distress. "We should have realized," Thor started before deciding to change his route. "The Captain is correct. His escape was inevitable, but I am begging you to understand, my friends. Had he escaped on Midgard he would have caused a plethora of damage and death compared to what happened on Asgard."

Before the mood could turn any sourer, Fury knocked on the desk. "Let's not delve into our emotions. I hope we can all behave like the rational adults we are and devise a plan." He eyed Clint, Bruce, Thor, Natasha, and Steve in turn.

* * *

Bruce was tasked with searching for Loki's energy signature on Earth. Natasha and Clint were tasked with helping him, while Steve and Thor were tasked with finding Pepper and contacting Tony through her.  
"This would be a lot easier if Tony were here," Bruce sighed.

Natasha pursed her lips, mildly offended. "Are we no help?" she joked.

Bruce laughed. "You know that's not what I meant."

"I hope we can get Tony back," Clint whined. "We could have found Loki already."

"That is if Tony hasn't already," Bruce muttered. Clint's accusations planted suspicion, and he too accepted the scenario as a possibility. He still found it hard to believe that Tony would just up and quit.

"Or Loki found Tony," Clint replied somberly.  
Finding Loki's energy signature was proving to be more difficult than anticipated. SHIELD had collected ambient energy signatures from Loki's last visit to Earth, but the scan Bruce set up hadn't found a damn thing.

"Check the other one," Natasha suggested.  
"Cross your fingers." Bruce checked the results of the scan searching for basic magic signatures. It, too, came up empty.

_"0% Match" _blinked back at them in flashy red print.  
"That's a problem," Bruce sighed again.

"Either Loki isn't here, or we're searching for the wrong thing," Natasha supplied.

Clint folded his arms over his chest. "I'm hoping for the former, but I'd put my money on the latter."

* * *

Of all the people lined up to harass him, Tony wasn't expecting Pepper to be the first. He assumed he'd pissed her off enough to leave him alone for, at minimum, a couple weeks.

"What?" He spoke into the receiver of his phone, almost in disbelief. "You're actually calling to tell me they want me back? Really, Pepper, I thought I'd taught you better."

"Listen, Tony," Pepper sounded as if she were on the brink of begging. "They need you, and you may not see it, but you need them too, and-"

Tony cut her off. "Oh my God, what did they implant in you? You're compromised!"

"Could you please take this seriously for once? Thor said Loki escaped, and he's worried he may be here-"

"_What_?" Tony sputtered in genuine surprise. "You should have _started_ with that!"

"I was hoping it would convince you to rejoin the Avengers," Pepper confessed.

"I'm not crawling back to Fury, and I'm not going to listen to _you_ anymore if you team up against me with them."

"Everything I do is for your good," Pepper sighed.

"And rejoining Fury's lackeys is going to make me a better person." Tony smirked. _This bitch needs to get lost. _

"Just think about it."

"How do I know you're not lying to me? How do I know you're not an agent in disguise and Loki's still in his cell in Asgard? Think about it," Tony mimicked.

Pepper huffed in frustration. She'd had enough. "Goodbye, Tony."

"Good riddance," he laughed and hung up the phone. Now _that_ should keep Pepper away.

Tony threw himself back down on the workbench, tossing his phone on the table next to him.

"Could Loki have escaped?" Tony said aloud.

Jarvis' helpful voice piped up. "_The chances of his escape are conceivable_."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Rhetorical question, Jarvis."

_"You did not make it clear that it was so, Sir." _

"Shut up. Have you detected any anomalies in the atmosphere? Any changes that might hint at a portal or teleportation?"

"_Apart from Thor's arrival, I have detected nothing_." Jarvis supplied.

"Hmm. SHIELD still trying to hack me?"

"_Yes, sir, though their attempts are futile_."

"I know," Tony smirked, feeling smug. "Feel like fresh air? Let's take the suit out for a run."

Before Jarvis could agree, Tony was already on the elevator making his way up to the roof.

"What, I'm not worth a response?" Tony raised his eyebrows, having expected a "yes" or an "of course" from Jarvis.

"_You did not program me with the ability to want, Sir, and had I refused you still would have taken the suit."_

"Smartass," Tony said as the suit encased him and locked into place. He shot off the tower and flew up, cutting through the mottled New York night sky.

"_Any specific location, Sir_?" Jarvis questioned.

"No. Let's see where the night takes us."

* * *

While Tony flew aimlessly through the city, Loki found himself groaning irritably, having just woken up.

_"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now." Loki's own voice echoed in his head. He looked at Stark as he said it, knowing only he'd understand. Loki would have smiled at what he saw were it not for his aching body and hazy mind. It seemed like knocking him around knocked Thanos' hold on his mind right out. Stark's face was a mask of barely concealed amusement. He was exhausted, Loki could tell. His eyes still held a dangerous quality, but they lacked the anger that was present during the battle. Loki wanted to smile up at him. He wanted to understand Stark, to be understood by him, he wanted to- _

Loki shook the rest of his dream away. _Why do I keep dreaming of this man?_ "Are these supposed to _mean_ something?" He asked, incredulous, to nothing in particular. Well, this one had been a memory more than a dream, but it still did not explain why he was having it to begin with. In Asgard he thought it was because he was the last person, save Thor, he held a conversation with.

_Here, on Midgard,_ he pondered,_ it might be because of how close I am to him_. He could see Tony Stark's tower from where he was, which lead him to his current dilemma. "I must truly be stupid," Loki spoke to himself, "to be this close to SHIELD and the Avengers." He felt Thor's arrival the day before, so he had no doubt they were already informed of his escape.

Loki was aware they were most likely searching for him, but it didn't bother him. They wouldn't be able to find him. After all, he'd already found them, and they had yet to notice.

He stretched his arms and legs, and yawned. It was dark out, meaning he'd slept the whole afternoon away. He'd gone out during the day before and hadn't run into anybody worth worrying about, but he still preferred exploring the city by night. He cloaked himself with an invisibility spell before teleporting out into the cool night air.

Loki would be a novice, though, if he expected the same thing to happen every time. He was earnestly unsurprised when he teleported out of his not-so-secret hiding spot and caught sight of Iron Man soaring past him and disappearing behind the silhouette of nearby buildings.

"How convenient," Loki whispered to himself, a sly smile darkening his features._ Stark, of all people. _He watched Iron Man's quickly receding trail for a fraction of a second longer before making up his mind and racing after him. Loki didn't intend to fight him. He didn't even intend to be seen by him, but he was prepared if worst came to worst. He doubted any Midgardian would be able to see through his magic, but donned his armor, nonetheless. It never hurt to be cautious.

When Loki caught up to Iron Man, he couldn't help but wonder what the man was doing. He was flying around aimlessly, uncaring of his surroundings and the people below. Stark was very silent, choosing to take alleys and weave in and out of dark uninhabited places, almost as if he were hiding from someone. Loki scoffed. _Who does a hero have to hide from?_ The commonly bustling streets were empty, devoid of the usual chatter and madness present in the day and early night. He liked it better this way.

Loki watched Stark from a distance, carefully tracking his movements and mentally noting the irregularity of his flight pattern. There were times where Loki expected him to go one way, but Stark would prove him wrong and choose another route. Like his persona, Stark's movements were unpredictable. They became even more so when a jet Loki recognized as belonging to SHIELD loomed overhead. Instead of ignoring it or flying to it, Stark dropped out of sight. Loki dropped down behind him, now hearing distance from him. _I'm too close_, Loki knew, but he couldn't miss an opportunity to spy on two enemies at once.

He watched Stark follow the jet's movement. Once the jet was out of sight, Iron Man floated slowly up and halted, muttering something Loki was now too far below to hear. He teleported to the structure nearest to Stark in attempt to catch the end of his sentence.

"-to the tower?" Stark's hushed voice asked.

Loki changed his focus to Stark's tower which he assumed was the tower in question. Sure enough, the jet circled Stark Tower and stopped to hover above it.

"Go the fuck home," Stark muttered. "Jarvis, are you checking for attempted security breech?"

"_Yes, sir_," Stark's computer answered dutifully. "_No attempted security breech. They have a message for you." _

_Security breech_? Loki questioned. _They are not welcome, then. _He was confused but curious. He realized Stark and SHIELD must have had a falling out.

"Indulge me," Stark snorted.

The message was spoken by a familiar voice. "_Before you blow up the plane give us a chance to explain,"_ the voice quipped. _"As much as SHIELD hates to admit it, they need your help. I need your help. Nobody in SHIELD is quite as smart as you, Tony, and I need you to help us track Loki. You may not think so, but we are still a-"_ The message cut off abruptly. Loki couldn't place whose voice it was, as familiar as it had sounded. He was satisfied that SHIELD wasn't able to track him.

"That's enough, Jarv," Stark sounded irritable.

_"I suggest you listen to the rest, Sir." _

"I didn't program you to tell me what to do," He snapped back at the computer. "Pep wasn't lying then, huh? Loki's free."

"_It could be a ruse_," the computer suggested.

"Or it could be true," Stark admitted. "I'd take Banner's word for it."

That answered some of Loki's questions, but made way for a whole new set of others. The only thing he was still sure of was that Iron Man was, by far, the most interesting Avenger.

Stark took off suddenly, causing Loki to miss the rest of Stark's conversation. Loki grinned as he pursued him. A problem within the Avengers would work in his favor. He had to know more. He had to know what happened between Stark and SHIELD. Loki recalled a memory. Something Agent Barton said. "_Then there's Tony. Not too fond of following orders. Doesn't play well with others. He's volatile. Not to be trusted, if you ask me. Fury must have been desperate to call him in." _ Loki hadn't cared too much at the time. He considered Hulk the real danger, and he was correct in assuming so, but he was a fool to have disregarded Stark. The man was a genius, and he proved himself to be reckless and dangerous. Loki liked that.

Twenty uneventful minutes passed. Loki decided Stark must have been just out for a stroll like Loki had been before running into him. He let his mind drift, and had almost convinced himself to go after the SHIELD jet instead, when a series of blood curdling screams reiterated. It seemed to have caught Iron Man's attention, and he swooped down silently in search of the commotion.

Loki shadowed him, easily keeping up, being careful to not capture his attention. Stark sauntered over, stepping silently into an unlit alley.

Loki's eyebrows shot up in surprise at what he'd just witnessed. It wasn't the freshly deceased man abandoned in the middle of the street, or even the woman held at gunpoint with a hand clamped around her mouth that surprised Loki. It was Stark's response to the ordeal that had done the trick.

Loki expected him to charge in and kill the criminal, heroically saving the woman. Instead, he _laughed_. He took one look at the woman and _laughed._ Loki was nothing short of dumbfounded.

"Gonna make my day?" Stark said nonchalantly, announcing his presence.

The other man turned abruptly, his face filling with shock and anger at having been discovered. He pressed the gun closer to the woman's temple, threatening. "Fuck off, Iron Man, and I won't kill her," he scowled.

"That's going to deter me?" Loki imagined Stark rolling his eyes, far too used to these situations. Stark leaned against the wall of the building opposite the man and the woman. He either wasn't in a hurry or he was pretending not to be, Loki decided, still confused.

The woman muttered something unintelligible before biting down on the man's hand. The man grunted in pain, shoved her against the wall, readjusted his hold on her, and struck her head with the butt of the gun. She cried out and cursed.

"Ouch," Stark lamented mockingly.

The man, most likely confused by Stark's lack of action, exclaimed, "You ain't doing anything?"

The woman tried to escape again but was held firmly in place. "Tony, please," she sobbed desperately. "Please."

_Tony_, Loki noted. _They know each other. _

Another laugh escaped Stark's lips. "Please what?"

The woman narrowed her tear filled eyes and spat. "Son of a bitch, help me!"

Stark tutted and placed a hand on his hip. "It's amusing how you think that's going to aid you."

"_Superheroes_ are _supposed_ to help people!" She exclaimed, now angrier than desperate. "It's your job!"

The man stood speechless, gun still pointed to the woman's head, eyes darting back and forth between the woman and Iron Man.

"What's that?" Stark brought his hand up to his ear. "Now I _am_ a superhero?"

"If this is revenge," the woman hissed, "you're going to rot in _hell_, you dirty scumbag."

Loki almost failed to hold in a snicker. He wondered how badly this woman screwed Stark over for him to disregard her safety. It was unheard of for a _hero_.

Stark, however, didn't hold in his chuckle. "And you wonder why I find it difficult to help you, honey." He shook his head. "No, this isn't revenge. This is returning the treatment I've received from you over the years. All the years you've tried to sabotage my image."

The woman tried breaking her hold from the man, but, again, failed.

The man slammed her against the concrete wall and tried clamping his hand over her mouth again.

She shook her head savagely. "You never deserved the title of hero, and you will never be able to make up for what you've done, _Merchant of Death_!" She shrieked. "Let me die! People will see this. You'll rot in jail. You're going to hell," she repeated.

_Merchant of Death?_ Loki didn't understand the reference, but it was obviously directed towards Stark. _Merchant of Death_, he repeated internally. He had to remember that.

"If you say so," Stark shrugged. "I'll have a party. Maybe you'll get invited this time instead of having to pop in unannounced."

In a fit of hysterics, the woman attempted to knee the man restraining her in his private area. If she were to free herself she'd most likely attempt to kill Stark. _It'd save me the work_, Loki joked to himself.

"People will see this!" She threatened. "They'll see how full of shit you are, they'll-"

Stark put his hand up to silence her. "You honestly think people will see this? Honey, I own this city. I own this _country_. I can own this world if I want to. You think cameras are going to help you? They'll see what _I _want them to see. They'll check the footage, and all they'll see is a piece of shit. I'll even leave a piece myself as homage to you because a piece of shit is all you're worth." Stark waved his hands impatiently at the other man, which was all the permission he needed to shoot the woman in the head.

If Loki wasn't dumbfounded before, he sure was now. _Stark actually let him kill her. This can't be the same Iron Man. _

The man stepped away from his victim, warily glancing up at Iron Man. "You're my new favorite hero."

Tony disregarded his comment and walked over to the woman. He stared at her for a minute, probably making sure she was dead. "Can't say I'll miss her." He turned his attention to the man. "For the record, I didn't tell you to do it."

The man was stupefied, eyeing Stark as if he were a hallucination. Loki sympathized with him. He almost felt the same.

"You're not," the man paused, searching for words but not finding any.

"First kill?" Stark motioned to the dead couple. He nodded. "Congratulations."

"It was memorable," the man admitted.

"That's lucky," Stark replied. "I don't remember mine."

The other man shifted uneasily. "You're just gonna let me go?"

Stark stepped closer to the man and laid a metal clad hand on his shoulder. "No, I can't." The man tried ripping his shoulder away, but Stark's grip on it tightened. "To quote a villain, you've seen too much." Without warning, a bullet shot out of the suit and blasted through the man's head, killing him. Stark dropped the man and took a look at his handiwork. He shook his head. "And somehow this is more satisfying than the Avengers headed aliens," Stark hummed to himself. He shot up into the air and jetted away, abandoning the bewildering scene.

Curiosity, getting the best of him, convinced Loki to examine the corpses. He didn't care for the two men, but the woman intrigued him. He wanted to know who she was. He sifted through her pockets and pulled out a small pouch. Inside the pouch he found multiple plastic cards most likely used for identification. He sorted through them until he found one with the woman's picture on it. _Christine Everhart_, he read, _Vanity Fair. _The name wasn't familiar to him, but he decided he'd look into her relationship with Stark later. _He'd said she tried to ruin his life_, Loki recalled.

He was pleased. Loki came to Midgard expecting trouble, not prospects. There was no doubt that it was Stark, and now there was no doubt that his suspicions regarding Stark were true. Since the time he spoke to him alone, Loki always suspected that Tony Stark was capable of turning against his team. He was capable of malevolence, and he tried to cover it up by pretending to be a superhero. Following Stark had been his best idea yet, and in the end, he was glad he didn't go after the jet.

Loki's mouth relaxed into something resembling a sinister smile. "Stark, you truly are a special one." He laughed softly. _I don't blame myself for paying special attention to him._ (Special attention is what he decided to call his Stark revolving Avengers dreams.) _Prospects. _He needed to get rid of Thor and the Avengers, and to get rid of them he needed a weapon. _This is it_, Loki decided. _The best weapon against the Avengers_ is_ an Avenger, and I believe I've just found the perfect one._

* * *

**Thank you for reading!** Please review. :) You'll get Tony's thoughts on the whole thing next chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you for all the reviews, favorites, and follows. Again, it really means a lot to us. :')

* * *

**CHAPTER 7**

"I think I'm going crazy." Tony paced across the room, the events from earlier in the night still fresh in his memory.

"_I recommend getting tested for Alzheimer's, sir_," Jarvis uttered.

"Excuse me?" Tony stopped pacing to stare at the ceiling accusingly.

"_You've repeated the same thing five times in the past half hour. Do you rememb-_"

"You're an asshole, you stupid non-living piece of shit," Tony joked. He continued pacing. "I can't shake off the feeling that someone was watching me," he confessed.

"_No one was detected, sir_."

"I know, I know." _It was the quinjet,_ Tony told himself. _It made me paranoid. I made sure there was no one there. I quadruple checked with Jarvis._ He just felt as if someone was observing his every movement. It had made the hairs on the back of his neck and arms rise, but he put it down to paranoia. It sure as hell wasn't his conscience. He'd given up on that long ago. _It has to be paranoia. Fuck SHIELD._

Tony's head still buzzed from the adrenaline rush he'd had. He hadn't meant to see anyone die, but he reasoned letting it happen. _Who'd have reached out and stopped the hand about to kill the pesky mosquito always buzzing around, unwanted, and always trying to suck your life away? As for the man? He was a criminal. Iron Man stopped criminals. And the other dead man,_ Tony remembered, _he was already dead_. No, Tony hadn't meant to see anyone die, but he hadn't regretted letting it happen.

The first thing he'd done after exiting the suit was run down to his lab and have Jarvis edit the security video. He replaced it with static. They'd think the shitty camera didn't work, and they wouldn't be able to pin it on him. Even if they did, which they wouldn't (because nobody is better at hacking than Tony Stark. Besides, his weapons were untraceable.), they wouldn't be able to make him pay for it. It was a satisfaction he'd never felt. Not in Afghanistan, not while killing bad guys with the Avengers, not ever. For the first time in his life he'd done something without caring if others would question his motives.

After Afghanistan he'd wanted to stop inadvertently killing. He'd wanted to end the suffering he'd caused. He stopped selling weapons, but he hadn't stopped building them. He became a weapon to protect the innocent people not strong enough to protect themselves. He became a weapon for the people that didn't respect him, that took him for granted, that underestimated him. The people that were _not_ innocent. Tony smiled, proud of the new direction his life was heading. _I'm nobody's weapon_.

Christine Everhart had been a textbook definition of the kind of person he'd just described. In her eyes he was never good enough. He was never a hero. He would never be able to prove that he'd changed and tried to help people. Like every other person in this world, she fought to make his life miserable, yet she still expected him to save her from death. If Tony let her die, it wasn't because he hated her. She convinced the world to doubt him and be disappointed in him. He simply decided it was time to show her how much the world had disappointed him in turn. He'd show everyone how utterly helpless they were when Tony Stark wasn't there to protect them, the same way he had shown Christine.

But first he had to show SHIELD he wasn't kidding when he said he was through with them. Tony commanded Jarvis to hijack SHIELD's systems and upload a virus while he rummaged through their files. He didn't find anything interesting until he ran into Bruce's work. _This is what they're up to_, Tony pondered. _SHIELD and the Avengers are still busy looking for Loki._ Tony thought they were wasting their time. Bruce's work was thorough, he wasn't going to deny it, but it was inconclusive. If Loki was on Earth, he wouldn't be stupid enough to leave his energy signature laying around for them to find. He was cunning while mind controlled, and must be even more so when his mind was his own. He got away from Asgard, and he's not going to want to go back_._ If SHIELD wants to waste their time looking for him, then by all means, he'd let them. Loki would come when he was ready, and he would come with a grim present for all of them. _We'll cross that bridge when we get there. _He wasn't going to fret over Loki just yet.

Tony knew the virus had his signature on it. After days of attempting to get rid of it, SHIELD would know just who had left it. Tony didn't care. It was a challenge. He wanted SHIELD and the Avengers to know they could do nothing to stop him. He wanted them to come for him and realize he was smarter than they were. Not even in their dizziest daydreams would they be able to stop him. _Stop me from what?_ Tony laughed at himself. _Stop me from doing what I want, _he decided. _This world is mine. It owes me. I'm going to make of it what I want._

After Jarvis had finished and Tony concluded his snooping bout, he finally sat down with the intention to relax. "You think that will convince them I'm not coming back? Or should I finally send the presents?"

"_That will only aid you in convincing them that you are losing your sanity_," Jarvis humored.

Tony rolled his eyes. "There's nothing wrong with my brain." He decided he'd send the presents anyway.

Earlier in the year Tony had accumulated offensive gag gifts he'd wanted to give the Avengers. He was only waiting for the perfect moment to send them, and this was very much it. Tony gathered all the gifts and a box to put them in. He took paper and a pen and wrote each of them a note to go along with each gift. He couldn't help but laugh as he was writing them. Fury was going to blow his top.

"What do you think, Jarvis? Think they'll send me a thank you card?"

"_Referring you to a sanitarium seems like a more likely possibility, sir_." Jarvis replied. If he had a mouth he'd be smirking. And Tony would be punching it.

"You're getting annoying," Tony snorted.

"_You should not have programmed me so_."

Jarvis was right. He shouldn't have. "But you're entertaining, so I'll let it slide."

Tony decided it was time for some shut eye. "Dim the lights. I'm going up to bed."

"_Good night, Mr. Stark_."

"Night, buddy."

* * *

Having experienced situations above and beyond her mind's capability, Agent Maria Hill was aware of the possible trouble that lurked behind every dark corner. She had experienced a lot of it during her years at SHIELD, and hence expected danger to come at any given moment, but she had not expected this.

Hill, along with the rest of SHIELD, was aware of Loki's escape.

She was not aware that he'd make his presence known to her.

In her bedroom.

During the middle of the night.

She watched, with too-tired-to-comprehend eyes, as Loki gently pressed a dagger to her neck and clamped his hand around her mouth to suppress the startled scream dying to escape her lungs. Loki removed his hand and put his finger to his lip, shushing her.

Maria nodded. She wouldn't scream. Not because Loki told her not to, but because her sleeping son was in the next room, and she didn't want to wake him. She didn't want Loki to get his hands on her son. She'd already lost her husband to war. She didn't want to lose her child, too.

That was the last thought drifting through her mind before Loki abruptly hit her in the head and she slumped down, unconscious.

* * *

Loki was leaning against the wall waiting for Agent Hill to regain consciousness, but decided to wake her up magically instead. He didn't have time to waste. She was mostly unharmed, the only injuries on her being on her head from when he'd hit her and a small bleeding spot where he removed and destroyed a SHIELD tracking chip. He watched the woman begin to stir. Agent Hill opened her eyes and slowly took in her surroundings, confounded. She seemed to remember Loki then and snapped her head to the side, searching for him.

"Agent Hill," he greeted.

"Loki," she grunted in reply. Her voice was hoarse. "What do you want from me?"

"Information," Loki apprised.

"You kidnapped me for information?" Agent Hill questioned, her scared eyes giving away more than her perfectly masked face was.

"Yes," Loki smiled, crouching down to meet her face to face.

"You are on Earth," Hill said, mostly to her self. Loki nodded. "You kidnapped me."

"I think I may have hit you a little too hard," Loki sighed. "Are we done pointing out the obvious?"

"Can you let me go?" She asked, deciding it was worth a shot.

"I can't do that," Loki smiled insincerely.

"Then I can't give you information," Agent Hill responded.

Loki raised an eyebrow. "You would give me information if I let you go?"

"Well, no," she said, leaning back onto the wall and closing her eyes. She took a deep breath. Loki could tell she was trying to calm down. "It's not like you're going to let me live."

Loki smiled sharply, causing Agent Hill to flinch. "No, I can't do that either."

Agent Hill closed her eyes again and took another deep breath.

"I am not going to lie to you," Loki informed her.

Agent Hill laughed tiredly. "I'd say I can't believe anything you say, but I don't doubt that you're going to kill me."

"You will die," Loki conceded. "But all of SHIELD will die by my hand eventually." Agent Hill's eyes were still closed, but she was now facing away from Loki. He wrapped a hand around her throat and squeezed. "Look at me." She did. "If you cooperate with me," he slightly loosened the grip on her neck for emphasis, "your death will be painless."

She stared back at him, a challenge in her frightened eyes. "I'm going to die anyway," she shrugged. "I'm not going to help you."

Loki narrowed his eyes. "One would think they would choose the easy way out when faced with death."

"Sometimes we just have to take the other option."

Impatience was making Loki grow irritable, but he remained calm. He knew the trained SHIELD agent wouldn't be easily convinced. He pulled out a small dagger and softly swiped it across his finger. He raised it to show her the thin line of blood that resulted. "It would be best for you to reconsider your options, Agent Hill."

Agent Hill's eyes moved from the dagger to his face. She shook her head. "Try me."

Loki retook hold of her neck. He dug his nails in and pushed her chin up, exposing more skin. "It would not be very difficult to simply snap your neck, but that won't do." Loki informed her. "I need information."

"You," Agent Hill choked out, "Already said that."

Loki pressed the dagger to her neck, drawing blood, and paused. She didn't blink or speak, instead choosing to stare wordlessly on.

"You do not _have_ to tell me anything," Loki leaned to whisper in her ear. He reinserted the blade and made a deeper cut, gliding all the way from the top of her neck to her collarbone. "Just know that if you don't I'll skin you alive. I'll break every bone in your fragile body. I'll gouge your eyes out and feed them to you. If you still choose to remain silent, then," Loki smiled gleefully, delicately carving more patterns into the woman's skin. "I'll heal you and start over."

Agent Hill gulped and then flinched when the action caused the fresh cuts to sting. She would not give in.

Loki laughed again. "Your resiliency is amusing. How long will it last?" He untied her hands only to press one against the wall and drive a dagger through it. He took out a second dagger and pinned the other hand. Agent Hill whimpered but made no move to speak. Loki continued slowly, aggravatingly on for another hour. He pierced her with daggers, made cuts, broke fingers, eventually coaxing cries and shouts out of the stubborn woman. Still, she did not speak, and Loki grew increasingly more impatient. He did not have the time to make good on his threat.

He looked into the Agent's eyes, now brimming with tears, and placed a hand on her swollen cheek, turning her head until her eyes met his. "You are a strong woman," Loki whispered, "But you are only mortal. There is only so much pain you can handle."

Agent Hill closed her eyes, again, and let the tears flow.

"Shh," Loki comforted. "You are strong, but I am stronger. I will do what I can to assure that I receive the information I need, be it from you or your companions," he paused. "Although, I would prefer it be you that tells me what I need to know."

"Why?" Agent Hill croaked. "Why," she inhaled, shaking, "me."

"Because I can trust your words. You despise him, and you have the most knowledge of him aside from the Avengers, the director, and Agent Coulson."

"Who?" She questioned, her voice weak.

"Will you tell me what I want to know?" Loki continued staring into her eyes, gauging every reaction that flickered past the broken mask she desperately failed to hold.

"I can't," Agent Hill whimpered. "Not to you."

"I will destroy everything you hold dear to you," he threatened. "Here, right now." Agent Hill shook harder, but did not say a word. "You have a son," Loki hissed, determined. "Tell me what I need to know, or I'll bring him to you, and I'll slit his neck as you watch, motionless."

Agent Hill squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head back and forth, crying. "No."

"Yes," Loki laughed, empty and cruel. He actually hadn't meant to harm the child, but if it came down to that, well, he had no other options.

"Not my baby boy, Loki," she sobbed.

"He is in the room adjacent to yours. He is sound asleep in his small bed, alone, unaware of your absence." Agent Hill continued sobbing as Loki spoke. "Tell me what I need to know," he repeated. "And I promise you he will remain there. I promise."

She cried, and Loki let her, but only for a little while. "You can hold him. I will bring him to you, like I brought you. You can hold him, tell him you love him, and say goodbye," Loki smiled reassuringly. "Then I will take him back, and he will always remember you."

Agent Hill lowered her head, resigned. "Yes, yes, okay," she sniffled a few more times before repeating, "Okay, yes."

Loki grinned. "Very well." He disappeared and reappeared seconds later carrying the young boy. He unpinned Agent Hill's hands from the wall and put the child in her arms. He watched her comfort the confused child and coddle him for twenty excruciatingly long minutes. It would have been heartwarming if Loki had been capable of feeling that. (And if he hadn't been the cause of their grief.) He cleared his throat, letting Agent Hill know visit time was over.

She handed the child over reluctantly, kissing his forehead before she did. "Safe. You promised."

"I did, and I'll keep my word," Loki confirmed, and was gone and back in an instant.

He turned to her, his smile sly and his face triumphant. "It is time to keep _your _word."

Agent Hill bit her lip, hating herself at the moment, but there was no time for regret. Her child was more important to her than her ties to SHIELD. "Who do you want information on?" Her voice was hoarse from crying and from pain.

"Iron Man," Loki stated, ecstatic at having finally reached the desired topic. "Tony Stark."

"Stark?" Agent Hill asked, animosity present in her face. "You could have just googled him."

"Do not question me," Loki replied sternly. "Tell me everything you know of him." He didn't mention that he had no idea what "googled" meant.

Agent Hill sighed, feeling worse by the second. "From the beginning," she assumed. Loki confirmed. "His father was Howard Stark, head of Stark Industries, at the time a weapons manufacturing company, and one of the founders of SHIELD."

_Founder of SHIELD? That is ironic seeing as Stark seems to hate them._

"Howard was a genius, like Tony. The arc reactor was his creation." Maria motioned to her chest, reminding Loki of the glowing circle in Stark's chest. "Tony just minimized and perfected it. Anyway," she continued. "He was a busy man. Always working, or drinking, or searching for Captain America. Never had time for Tony. Tony grew up living in his shadow, desperately trying to impress him and capture his attention, following in his footsteps until Howard and Maria's death. Maria was his mother," Agent Hill clarified. "They were killed in a tragic car accident. Tony was seventeen."

"I see." Loki motioned for her to continue.

"Howard's business partner, Obadiah Stane, took control of Stark Industries and became Tony's father figure. Stark graduated from MIT, the top engineering school in the country, if not the world, at nineteen. He took over Stark Industries at age twenty-one. He drank, he partied, and he designed weapons. Stark Industries was the leading weapons developer in the world, all of which he supplied to the military."

"Was?" Loki queried.

"We'll get to that later. This is an important part." Agent Hill paused, thinking to herself. She would have felt worse about revealing all this information if Loki hadn't been so right. She did hate Tony, and she was going to die anyway. That and talking kept her mind off of her son. "Some years ago Tony was doing a weapons demonstration in Afghanistan. He was kidnapped by a terrorist group called the Ten Rings, who, by the way, used Stark's own weapons to attack and capture him. He was there for three months, being tortured and forced to build them a missile. He didn't build a missile, though. He built the Iron Man suit."

_This is the origin of Stark's suit?_ Loki raised an eyebrow. "How could they not have noticed?"

"Technology lacks in that part of the world. They didn't notice until it was too late, and by that time, Stark had already killed half of them and was blasting his way out of the cave. He escaped, but the original Iron Man suit was made from scrap metal, and didn't hold very long. Tony was stranded in the desert, but was found by a military search party." She stopped then, remembering something. "Oh, the arc reactor. The device in his chest. When they were attacked, one of Stark's weapons blew up near him, and lodged pieces of shrapnel in his chest. The arc reactor powers an electromagnet that keeps the shrapnel from impaling his heart and killing him. That's all we know about that. He never did say how he designed it or how it came to be in his chest. Most people don't even know it's there."

Loki didn't really care. Barton had told him that the suit was powered by the reactor, and that the reactor was basically Stark's heart. "Go on," he prompted.

"When Tony got back home the first thing he did was shut down Stark Industries. Having seen his own weapons used against him and innocent people, he declared that he no longer wanted to build weapons. The public speculated and put it down to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He soon found out that his company was double dealing under the table and the culprit was no other than Stark's business partner, Stane. Stane also was the one to order the hit on Tony, and attempted to kill Tony himself and steal the arc reactor after failing to replicate it. Tony was devastated by the betrayal from his oldest friend and father figure, but that didn't stop him from donning his new and improved Iron Man suit and killing both Stane and the Ten Rings," Agent Hill recited this, as if she were reading it from a file. She probably had done so dozens of times.

Loki absorbed all the information in. It was helping him better understand Stark. _Betrayal. We share that in common. _

Agent Hill continued, having received no response from Loki. "Some time passed before Stark realized he was being poisoned by his arc reactor's palladium core. He became extremely reckless in anticipation of his own death until he created a new element as a suitable replacement for the palladium."

"Stark created a new element?" Loki was genuinely surprised. He knew the man was a genius, but creating a new element was something worth bragging about.

"Yup, only he can make it." Agent Hill changed topics. She was caught in between getting the story over with and wanting to draw it out. In other words, she was pondering how much more time she'd give herself to live. "Tony turned Stark Industry's focus on energy and the arc reactor. He continued to fight criminals as Iron Man, alone, for a few years until your arrival. The Avengers didn't form until then."

"I know," Loki rolled his eyes. _I hate the Avengers._ He watched Agent Hill open her mouth to speak, but changed her mind and said nothing. "Continue," Loki snapped.

"That's it. I have nothing more on him."

Loki narrowed his eyes. "There is always more."

Agent Hill sighed. She was tired and very pale, obviously in pain and struggling to stay up. "Why don't you just ask me specifically what you want to know? Don't make this harder for me." She would have glared if she wasn't already so miserable.

Loki held in a snide remark. She had a point. "What has Stark done for SHIELD?"

Agent Hill stiffened, chewing over her thoughts before finally speaking. "He designed weapons, the helicarrier and the quinjets, among other things. He was SHIELD's consultant and part of the Avengers, up until a few days ago."

Now _that_ almost made Loki slack-jawed in surprise. "He quit the Avengers? Why?"

"Tony Stark is a landmine. We've always had to be careful around him. Step on him and he'll blow up on you. I don't know how, but Fury and the Avengers crossed some line with him. He blew up. They've been butting heads since the New York incident," Agent Hill eyed him accusingly before proceeding. "And now he wants nothing to do with us. That's all I know on that."

Loki smirked. He was pleased. Things were looking up for him. Choosing Stark as his focus was proving to be the best decision he's made. The scene from earlier in the night he witnessed was replaying in his mind, and he remembered he still had questions to ask.

"What is the Merchant of Death?"

Agent Hill was confused, wondering how Loki came to know that. "That was Tony's nickname when he was still a weapons manufacturer. He didn't come up with it himself. His adversaries called him that in attempt to guilt him into seeing all the innocent lives he was taking because of his weapons."

_Ah,_ Loki now understood. "Who is Christine Everhart?"

Agent Hill furrowed her eyebrows in concentration. "Some reporter. Why?"

"What is Stark's relationship with her?"

"She hates his guts. That's about it. She keeps trying to give him a bad name. He keeps ridiculing her in public. She's just a thorn in his side, nothing more."

"I see," Loki repeated.

"Why do you care about Christine Everhart?" Agent Hill wondered.

"I ask the questions," Loki patronized.

"Are you done yet?"

"I believe so."

"Can I ask you a question, then?"

Loki shrugged. "It depends."

"How long have you been on Earth?" Agent Hill was now certain that Loki was the reason for Stark's behavior.

"Long enough," Loki responded ambiguously. "You suspect something," he smirked.

"Why are you so interested in Stark?" She asked, straightforward.

"I think you know, Agent Hill." Loki then crept closer to her, grabbing her neck and pushing her head back into the wall. "I appreciate your cooperation."

"You didn't give me another option," She spat, determined to die with whatever dignity she had left. There would be no crying or regret.

"Oh, but I did." Loki grinned. "I gave you the option to die painfully or die painlessly. You made the right choice." He laughed darkly.

Loki's face was the last thing Agent Hill saw before Loki snapped her neck, effortlessly and painlessly, like he'd promised.

* * *

Thank you for reading!

**Just as a warning: Dark Tony and Dark Loki starts from here on, if you couldn't tell by this chapter. **:)


	8. Chapter 8

Again, I'm sorry for the long wait. I hate this chapter! It was rewritten at least 3 times. :( I'm still not happy with it, but you've waited long enough so here you go.

* * *

**CHAPTER 8**

"Director Fury, I'm reporting a disturbance at Exit Point K," Coulson's unwelcome voice drawled, bringing Nick Fury's headset to life.

_It's too early in the goddamn morning for this._ "Get on it," he snapped.

"Video and audio were compromised, but are now fixed and up and running. We don't know who or what caused it. No further disturbances reported."

"Jackson. Ming. Report!" Fury ordered, recalling the names of the two agents guarding the exit. He waited through a full fifty seconds of silence before assuming the worst. "Coulson. We need people on K. Now."

"Already ahead of you, sir. We have two agents incapacitated," Fury cursed as Coulson called for a medical team. "Injuries are non-fatal, but it looks like they were taken by surprise. No person or object visible in the room."

"Look harder," Fury growled. "No one breaks in and takes agents down for nothing."

"Anyone that was here is long gone. I don't see a th- Never mind, see it!" Coulson exclaimed.

"What is it?" Three new voices chimed in.

"It's a box. Cardboard."

"Rogers, Romanoff, Barton, get over there now. I'm on my way. Coulson, don't touch it. Scan it." _Too early in the goddamn morning_, Fury reiterated.

Fury arrived after Barton, but before Romanoff and Rogers.

"It really is just a box," Clint announced, unimpressed.

"Do I look like a liar to you, Clint?" Coulson said, face impassive as always.

Clint rolled his eyes. "You did pretend to be dead." Natasha and Steve both tilted their heads in agreement. It was still a touchy subject.

"It was a necessary evil," Coulson smiled. "You should be angry at Director Fury, not at me."

Three heads turned to face him. Fury sighed. "Shut up, and tell me what's in that box."

"It didn't seem to be anything explosive when I scanned it, sir," Coulson said, getting back on topic.

"Who do you think left it?" Steve walked over to the box, curious.

"Whoever left it tried really hard to leave it and they did succeed. Quite an impressive feat, actually. I think it deserves some merit." Natasha's eyes went from the box to Fury and back to the box.

"You want to open it, Agent?" Fury rolled his eye, exasperated by his top spy's childish behavior.

"Steve. Open it," Natasha demanded. "If it's poison, you're the least susceptible," she reasoned.

"That's true! And if you die then we'll get the hell out of here," Clint agreed.

Steve shot Clint a glare then shrugged. "Might as well." He caught the pocket knife Natasha tossed to him and sliced open the box.

It opened to reveal seven smaller packages foiled in Avengers themed wrapping paper and topped off with a note card.

"Are you kidding me?" Fury cursed and pushed his way through Coulson and the three Avengers. "What the fuck is this?" He asked, picking up the note card.

**"My dear acquaintances, **

**I have very much appreciated our time together, but like all "great" things, we must also come to an end. We are officially broken up. I am only sorry that I could not say this in person. Alas, I leave you with these parting gifts. They are the first of many. **

**Yours truly,  
Anthony Edward Stark **

**P.S. - If I see another quinjet near any of my homes again, I'll blow it up."**

"Son of a bitch," Fury exclaimed after reading the note out loud.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Clint agreed.

Natasha stepped quietly over to the pile of presents and plucked the one with her name out. The men gathered around, curious, as she unwrapped it.

"This might actually be useful," Natasha snorted as she held her gift up for everyone to see.

Clint couldn't help but laugh despite the cold dread pooling in his gut. "Is that a thong with a _knife_ holder?"

"At least it's not something," Steve paused, "dangerous." He looked uneasy nonetheless.

"Anything is dangerous when Natasha owns it," Clint reminded. "My turn." Natasha tossed him his gift. "This is disappointing."

"What is it?" Coulson leaned closer to see. "Goggles?"

"It's a fucking kaleidoscope with hawk feathers glued on. Oh, look, there's a note," Clint noticed. **"What big eyes you have! The better to see you with, my child." **

"Nice gift, Little Red Riding Hood," Natasha smirked. "You're up, Steve."

Steve opened his present and read his note out loud first. **"To cure your virginity while still being stomach sickeningly good. Please enjoy it, Stevie boy." **Steve pulled out angel wings, and turned to face the rest of the people in the room, baffled, as he held up the second part of the gift. "What is this?"

Clint and Natasha broke into laughter while Fury and Coulson remained silent and perturbed.

"What? What is it?" Steve demanded.

Natasha paused laughing to inform him. "It's a dildo, Cap. Women use it to sexually stimulate themselves. They put it up thei-"

Steve flung the dildo across the room. "That's enough!" He huffed angrily.

"Get Bruce and Thor in here," Clint stammered, trying her to stifle his laughter. "I have to know what they got." He texted Bruce to bring Thor and meet them right away.

"This one is for you." Natasha handed Coulson his present.

"I'm not sure I want to open it after _that._" He contradicted his words by proceeding to open it. Coulson's gift was the smallest out of all of them. He opened it to reveal a card in a plastic case with a note taped on the cover. **"Mint condition. I made them myself. They're one of a kind." **

Natasha snickered. "Mint condition? Tell me this is what I think it is." She snatched the plastic case from Coulson and slid it open to reveal a glossy set of custom Iron Man trading cards. "Yup," she confirmed. "He even signed them."

Coulson groaned in frustration and made a show of tossing them into the trash can.

"You could always sell them," Fury butted in sarcastically. "They might be worth something."

Coulson brightened up. "That's true. We can still make a little bit of money off of him before he's gone for good." He realized it was the wrong thing to say when he was shot with four dejected glares.

Nick Fury was not amused. He watched the whole scene begrudgingly, trying not to concentrate on Stark's true intentions, until he was handed his own gift to open. It was a pirate hat with a matching eye patch. Fury tossed it without a second thought.

"Only Thor and Bruce's presents are left," Steve frowned, and then waved as the two stumbled in.

"You interrupted our hunt for Loki to open presents," Bruce raised an eyebrow.

"Did you find anything?" Steve inquired, hopeful.

"No," Thor sighed. "I do not think he is on Midgard."

"Good," Fury snorted. "One less thing to worry about."

"For now," Clint added.

Fury nodded solemnly. "For now."

Steve handed Bruce and Thor their gifts. "They're from Tony. They're meant to be insulting, so don't expect much," he warned.

Thor opened his first and uncovered a packet of nails with a note that read **"Put your hammer to better use."** He pursed his lips, discontent, but said nothing. It wasn't the gift that bothered him, (that bothered any of the seven people in the room, actually) but Tony's strange and sudden withdrawal.

It was Bruce's turn to open his, and he didn't know whether to laugh or feign shock. "It's a huge bag of weed. What am I supposed to do with a bag of weed?"

"If this shit keeps up for the rest of the day I'm going to need that," Fury declared, startling laughter from a few of the Avengers.

Straightening up, Natasha changed the subject to the topic they had all been avoiding. "These gifts," she began "Despite the connotation, they're pretty harmless, but that's the question. What did Stark really mean by sending these?"

"Exactly what he said," Bruce suggested. "It's done. We're over. I don't think we're going to get a reason out of him, especially if there's a second party involved." He glanced at Clint, then back to Natasha.

"Why would Tony injure two agents just to leave some presents? There must be more to it than that. He's already made it clear he wants nothing to do with us. What else is he trying to say?" Steve pressed.

"What did he mean by 'the first of many' gifts?" Thor interrupted. "What does he plan?"

Bruce shrugged. "If we knew how Tony's mind worked we wouldn't be here right now."

"It could be Tony's way of telling us to stay away or unpleasant things will come our way," Clint suggested.

"I never thought Tony would actually turn on us," Steve frowned. "Not after what he did for all of us."

Bruce placed a gentle hand on Steve's shoulder. "He hasn't turned on us yet."

"Don't take this out on yourself, Steve. It's none of our fault," Natasha reassured.

"I just don't know if there's something we could have done to prevent this from happening. It was all so sudden," Steve sighed.

"When it comes to people like Stark, Cap, there's nothing we can really do oth-" Fury's cell phone rang unexpectedly causing the focus of his attention to be redirected. His friends and family knew to not call him on his personal phone during work hours. He scowled as he peered down at the phone's screen. It was an unknown number, but unknown numbers wouldn't have Nick Fury's cell phone number. "Hello?" He answered tentatively.

"Hi," a quiet, high pitched voice that could only belong to a child responded. That worried him. Why would a child have his phone number?

"Who is this?" Fury demanded.

"Is this Mommy's friend?" The child asked.

"Who is Mommy?"

"This is a 'mergency. Mommy said to call this number for 'mergency."

"Yes?" Fury encouraged patiently.

"Mommy's not here," the child whimpered.

"Where is she?" _And who is she?_ Fury wondered. It must be someone he knew. That would be the only reason a child would have his number for an emergency.

"I dunno," the boy sniffed, "Mommy didn't wake me up for breffast. Got up but Mommy wasn' here. Only blood."

"Blood?" Fury was alarmed. "What's your name, son?"

"Gabriel," the child answered. _Gabriel? Who did he know with a child named Gabriel? Gabr_- "Gabriel Hill."

"Gabriel _Hill_?" Fury sputtered a little too loudly. His brain supplied him with a face for the name and filled his head with a new sense of horror. "Gabriel, where are you right now?"

"Home," the boy sniffed again.

"I'll send someone for you. You're sure Mommy isn't there?"

"I looked everywhere!" Gabriel sobbed. "No Mommy. Only blood."

"Go to your room, Gabriel." Fury covered the phone's speaker and addressed the curious and wary onlookers. "Coulson, Rogers, Romanoff. Go to Agent Hill's apartment right now! Your first priority is getting the boy out. Make sure the place is empty, take note of the state of everything, and bring back anything worth taking a look at," he ordered. "Barton, Bruce, Thor, you three work on locating Agent Hill." He placed the phone to his ear as they rushed out. "Talk to me. What's your favorite color?"

"Orange. What's yours?"

"I don't know. Brown. What do you like to do?"

"I like playing hide an' seek, an' tag, an' sometimes Mommy would even play with me when…" Fury only half listened as the boy chattered away. His thoughts were preoccupied with attempting to place what happened to Maria Hill. _And I thought this day couldn't get any shittier. Of course it would._ "There's someone at the door," Gabriel announced.

"Ask who it is," Fury prompted.

"Steve, Phil, and N'stasha. They coming for me?"

"Yes, let them in. They're Mommy's friends too. They're going to bring you here. Give the phone to one of them," There was a minute of silence before it was replaced with the familiar voice of Phil Coulson.

"Sir, the apartment is clear. Not a living thing here except for the boy and a fish in a bowl," Coulson briefed. "The boy's clothes are coated in blood, but none of it is his. Steve is cleaning him up right now. Natasha is looking through Maria's room. There are a few drops of blood near the foot of her bed but most of it seems to be on the boy's clothing. No cuts or bruises on the boy. No sign of struggle anywhere."

Fury rubbed his face with one hand and smacked a wall with the other. "Bring everything with blood on it. When you get here take them to Doctor Banner and find out whose blood it is. Send Romanoff and Rogers to me with the boy." He waited for Coulson's "yes, sir" before cutting the line.

By the time the three returned with the five-year-old in tow, it was already confirmed to Fury that Agent Hill was missing and most likely dead. Doctor Banner had tracked her microchip from her home to an abandoned lot. Thor and Agent Barton had gone to investigate, but they found only a drop of blood and remnants of a smashed tracking chip. There wasn't a clue as to what became of the rest of Agent Hill.

"Director," Coulson announced his presence. "This is Gabriel."

"Hi," Fury said, stretching his hand out to take and lead the boy into a more comfortable room."

"Hi," Gabriel said, recognizing him as the voice from the phone. "Mommy's friend?"

"Yes," Fury nodded. "My name is Nick. Would you like something to eat?"

The boy nodded. "Do you have cookies?"

"Coulson, get Gabriel cookies and milk." Coulson left to do what he was told.

"Thank you," Gabriel replied politely. He sat down on a chair across from Steve and Fury.

Fury nodded at Steve.

"First of all," Steve began with a calm and comforting voice, "We want you to know that you are safe here, Gabriel, and we won't let anyone touch you."

Gabriel nodded, relieved. The big nice man was reassuring.

"I know this is hard for you, buddy, but we need to know what happened to Mommy. What do you remember?" Steve questioned.

"Nothing," the boy whimpered, disappointed that he couldn't help. "I can't, but I want to!"

"It's okay," Steve comforted. "You were asleep. Let's talk about that. Did you sleep well?"

"No!" The boy whined. "I had nightmares!"

"Nightmares? Do you want to talk about them? Sometimes talking about them helps." Steve was alert. Fury and Steve had both dealt with people having nightmares that ended up turning out to be suppressed memories.

Gabriel shuddered but then nodded reluctantly. "Mommy had lots of cuts an' bruises, an' lots a' blood!" He squeezed his eyes shut. "It was the worst nightmare ever. A monster was hurting Mommy, but she said everything would be okay and nightmare was over." He sighed.

"A monsters was hurting Mommy?" Steve questioned.

"Yes. I couldn't see 'em, but I woke up in the morning an' I was cold an' dirty."

Steve furrowed his eyebrows. "But Mommy said it was okay?"

"She held me an' kiss me like she always does," Gabriel's lip quivered. "She said it was going to be okay, an' I was going to be fine if I went back to sleep. She said she always love me."

"Did you go back to sleep?"

"I thought I was sleepin'. Then I woke up an' I saw blood from dream."

"Do you always remember your dreams, Gabriel?" Steve wondered. Gabriel only shrugged. "I don't think you got much sleep," Steve said as Gabriel rubbed his eyes. "Would you like to take a nap? We will be right next to you to protect you." Gabriel nodded and was led away by Coulson.

Fury finally spoke up. "So what I'm getting is a _monster_ was torturing Hill, forced her to tell the kid everything was alright, and then wiped her off the face of the Earth."

"This isn't mind control, but it does seem like it involves some form of memory alteration. I don't think the boy is lying about what he remembers."

"No," Fury agreed. "We haven't found a single trace of the 'monster' or Agent Hill. Who do we know that's capable of stealth and memory alteration?"

"No one human," Steve groaned. "Who did this?"

"'The first of many presents'," Fury recalled. "Stark?"

Steve's eyes widened. "He can't- No. He's not capable of memory alteration."

"But Loki is," Fury scowled. "And if Barton's theory is correct,"

"Then it could have been Tony," Steve finished. "But we've already established that Loki probably isn't here. It would be stupid of him to come back."

"Or maybe that's what he wants us to think," Fury suggested.

Steve paused to consider it. "But wouldn't Tony's eyes have changed color?"

"Possibly," Fury stopped when an idea suddenly came to mind, "but with all the crap Stark has done to himself otherworldly abilities aren't beyond the grasp of reality."

"No human can create those abilities. They're too advanced, and exactly as you said: otherworldly," Steve countered.

"He edited and recoded the Extremis serum to give himself enhanced strength and who knows how long of a life." Fury's frown was now almost a permanent fixture on his face.

"But he can't give himself magical abilities!" Steve insisted stubbornly.

Fury crossed his arms, resigned. "What if someone else gave him magical abilities?"

"Loki? Thor said Loki was being mind controlled when the attack happened, but that doesn't make him any less dangerous. If Loki's got a hold on Tony we have to figure out a way to get him back. Loki almost killed two of his brothers. Attempting to kill us won't be that much more difficult." Steve worried. "And maybe he's using Tony to do it."

Fury was also worried. This was a whole new world of threats. "When he left the presents we couldn't find a trace of him ever being here, except for the box. We didn't see him coming, we didn't see him leave, and if it hadn't been for the box we wouldn't have known it was him." Fury stood up from his seat. "What if Agent Hill didn't see him coming either?"

Steve stood up, too. "You really think Tony could have killed Agent Hill?" Everyone doubted she was still alive.

"'The first of many gifts'," Fury repeated. "We sent a quinjet near his tower, and if he is working for Loki, he now knows that we know Loki has escaped. That warrants a punishment."

"And killing a top agent could be an adequate punishment," Steve reasoned. He met Fury with wide, angry eyes. "We have to stop him."

"We have to confront him when he's out in public," Fury decided. "He won't let us near him when he's alo- What?" Fury demanded, seeing realization sprout on Steve's face.

"This morning. Did you watch the local news this morning?" Steve rushed on. "Tony wasn't home when we looked for him at the tower last night. This morning two men and a woman were found dead. The man and the woman were killed by a weapon found on the scene, but the other man was killed by an untraceable bullet. That man was killed last, but it was him who killed the couple, and he didn't shoot himself. A fourth person killed him. The police have no idea who."

"Are you insinuation that Stark was the fourth person?" Fury question, incomprehension still marring his features. "What for?"

"The dead woman," Steve explained. "She was Christine Everhart."

Fury didn't respond. The name was familiar, but he hadn't been paying much attention to non-threatening people lately.

Steve clarified. "She was the reporter that's been giving Stark bad PR for a few years. She's been working harder than ever for the past two weeks. He has publicly humiliated and threatened to end her before. I don't know what past they have together, but they hate each other."

"Yes, I remember her now," Fury said. "Who are the two men?"

"One of them is another reporter, presumably Ms. Everhart's date. The second man is a petty criminal with a history of burglary and assault. The general consensus is that he killed Ms. Everhart and the other reporter, and then was shot by a fourth person."

Fury tapped his fingers on the table as he absorbed the information. "That doesn't mean it was Stark."

"No, but the bullet was untraceable, remember, and the security cameras around the area conveniently stopped working. Where have we seen that before?"

"You think that Stark set the whole thing up?" Fury concluded.

Steve nodded. "From what Bruce studied and told me, the blood stains indicate that Agent Hill went missing shortly after the deaths of those three were estimated. I don't think this is a coincidence."

A surge of anger coursed through Fury, and he turned to Steve with a sneer. "I'll kill him."

Steve balled his hands into fists. "We have to catch him first."

"We'll catch him," Fury said with resolution. "And if that bastard Loki is involved, we'll get him, too."

"What's going to happen to the boy?" Steve remembered suddenly.

"Maria left a will and a list of people he would go to in case anything was to happen to her. He will be fine," Fury replied. "We will send him to his grandparents tonight. It's best to get him out of here as soon as possible."

"Do you think they'll be back for him?" Steve said, worried.

"No, I think whoever this was- Stark, Loki, whoever, purposely left him alive."

"Why is that?" Steve asked before catching on to Fury's train of thought. "No one will pass on the story if there's no one alive to tell it."

Fury nodded. "We can't find her body. We probably will never be able to. The kid had his memory wiped, but he remembers enough to paint us a picture of what occurred. The only thing he can't remember is _who_ was doing it, and that's just great."

"It could be that he never saw the person. Agent Hill might have been watched closely and then taken away."

"That's probable. Stark can be a sneaky bastard." Fury glowered in the general direction of Stark Tower. "Find your teammates. Let them know of this." He picked up his headset. "Coulson," he commanded, "Re-categorize Tony Stark and Iron Man as hostiles, then meet Rogers in conference room 127C." Fury lowered the headset down and ordered Steve to go. "I'll pinpoint Stark's location, and then I'll join you. We have to keep an eye on him."

* * *

**Thank you for reading! **I promise the next chapter will be out in less than two weeks. Probably towards the end of this week, but I can't guarantee anything.


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